Judge Denies Firearms Industry Motion to Dismiss New York City Case

A federal judge in New York City today ruled that the city may ignore federal law and proceed with its frivolous lawsuit against firearms companies.

Industry defendants had filed a motion to dismiss the suit after Congress passed the “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act” in October. While the new law was intended to protect firearms industry companies from lawsuits like New York’s, Eastern District Judge Jack B. Weinstein opted to deny the motion and side with the city.

“Judge Weinstein’s decision was not only predictable, but intellectually dishonest and blatantly biased, given his decade-long track record of aiming to derail the firearms industry,” said Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade organization for the firearms industry.

“New York City’s lawsuit is precisely the type of suit the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was designed to prevent. During debate in each chamber of Congress, Sen. Larry Craig and Rep. Cliff Sterns—the sponsors of the bill—both referenced the city’s case as a quintessential example of a lawsuit the act would prevent,” Keane said.

The “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,” signed into law in October, was created to prevent lawsuits attempting to hold firearms industry companies liable for the actions of criminals who misuse the industry’s lawful products. The law prevents wrongful civil liability lawsuits against law-abiding companies.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry, representing manufacturers, distributors and retailers among its 2,800 members. For more information, visit www.nssf.org.

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Judge Weinstein is ignoring a federal law passed and signed by President Bush just a few weeks ago. Now the gun manufacturers will have to spend millons more $ to appeal this judge's decision to allow the lawsuit to continue in blatant violation of the law.

This is judicial activism at it's absolutely most arrogant and intolerable. Alito MUST be confirmed ASAP so that this kind of judicial arrogance can be slapped down once and for all.

BTW, this came to me by email, the link is to the NSSF website. The website is still showing the case at a earlier point before the judge allowed the lawsuit to proceed in spite of the preemption law.

This is judicial activism at it's absolutely most arrogant and intolerable. Alito MUST be confirmed ASAP so that this kind of judicial arrogance can be slapped down once and for all.

And Weinstein must be removed from the bench.

Judges are obligated to rule based on the constitution first and the law second. Their personal opinions don't enter into the equatin anywhere. Such a blatant disregard for the law demonstrates Weinstein's incapacity to perform his duties. He should be removed from the bench.

Now if we could only find an elected Republican out there with the balls to actually make a motion for Weinstein's removal.

This address will get you to a Newsday article:

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--gunlawsuits-newyo1202dec02,0,139395.story

It says, in part,"The act allowed lawsuits to stay alive only if a gunmaker or seller knowingly violated a law applicable to the sale or marketing of firearms. Lawrence Greenwald, an attorney for Beretta USA, said Congress meant that exception to apply only to laws specifically regulating guns. Weinstein interpreted it more broadly.

"If Congress had wanted to limit the predicate exception ... it could easily have done so. It did not," he wrote."

This is a typical twist by a lawyer. The courts are the last stronghold of the anti-gunners.

This is what happens when we place Judges above the law. This should be able to be referred to a higher level, possibly a presiding judge of the State of New York without spending millions to defeat this jacka@@.

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