Only remaining municipal gun-industry
lawsuit grinds to final defeat

GARY, INDIANA — In 1999, when the rest of the country was fretting over the potential Y2K disruption of worldwide computer systems, the City of Gary, Indiana launched its lawsuit against handgun manufacturers, retailers and a wholesaler, raising claims of public nuisance, negligent design, negligent distribution, marketing and failure to warn, all aimed at making the firearm industry liable for harm allegedly resulting from the unlawful and reckless use of guns.

The case was one of dozens of substantially similar actions filed by local governments, supported by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and gun control group Brady, seeking to hold firearms manufacturers and local retailers liable under state tort law and eventually, bankrupt them out of business.

Prompted by this onslaught of gun control lawfare, a bipartisan Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) in 2005, a law that essentially codifies longstanding tort law principles of remoteness, proximate cause, and duty of care (that a defendant has no duty to prevent the criminal, intentional, or reckless behavior of a third party absent a special relationship between the defendant and either the injured party or the third party). …