"Congress passed the PLCAA to stop coordinated litigation campaigns designed to bankrupt the firearms industry through meritless lawsuits."

New York's move here is pretty transparent — relabel the same strategy as a "public nuisance" and argue it's outside federal preemption. The Second Circuit bought it. If SCOTUS doesn't take this up, that framing becomes a template that doesn't stay in New York.

The part that should get your attention is buried at the bottom: California, Illinois, and Massachusetts are watching. A cert denial leaves that blueprint sitting on the desk of every state AG who wants to make gun manufacturers radioactive to investors without ever having to pass a law that voters can push back on. That's the actual threat — not one state's statute, but a litigation strategy that scales.

Whether SCOTUS grants cert is the only thing that matters right now. The Court turns down the vast majority of petitions, and a pass here means the Second Circuit ruling stands as settled law in that circuit.

Has anyone here dealt directly with a distributor or local gun shop owner who's talked about what this kind of legal environment actually does to their business decisions — stocking certain products, dropping certain manufacturers, that kind of thing?

Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett