Supreme Court Upholds Total Immunity for the Gun Manufacturing Industry

This morning the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the City of New York’s final appeal in their case against gun manufacturers who sell their guns in ways that allow their product to end up in the hands of criminals.  This doesn’t come as too much of a surprise since the City lost its petition in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after Congress passed legislation in 2005, effectively immunizing gun manufacturers from lawsuits.

Cities have never been ultimately successful in their cases against gun manufacturers, leaving gun manufacturers unaccountable for providing guns to dealers who in turn sell them in ways that allows the guns to end up in the hands of criminals.  Yet at the same time the gun industry loves our legal system – when it serves its own purpose.  This past summer, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Washington DC’s handgun ban, gun advocates backed by the NRA immediately began filing lawsuits to get other laws regulating guns overturned.