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1 1 (April 24, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govzlh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ______ SResearch Service When Can the Firearm Industry Be Sued? April 24, 2019 There has been increased interest in the scope of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) after the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit may go forward against the manufacturer, distributor, and dealer of the semiautomatic rifle used by the assailant in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The PLCAA generally bars lawsuits in federal or state court against firearm manufacturers, distributors, and dealers when a third party acquires a firearm from that distribution chain and uses it for criminal ends. But the plaintiffs in Soto v. Bushmaster Firearms International contend, and the Connecticut Supreme Court agreed, that the alleged claims fit within one of the PLCAA's enumerated exceptions: when a manufacturer or seller knowingly violates a state or federal law applicable to the sale or marketing of firearms, and that violation was a proximate cause of the harm the lawsuit seeks to vindicate (known as the predicate exception). This Sidebar outlines the PLCAA, explains the Soto ruling, and evaluates the impact it may have on future litigation against the firearms industry if plaintiffs may invoke consumer-protection laws- the type of law relied on in Soto-as a means for shooting victims to seek compensation from the makers and distributors of firearms. PLCAA: Congress enacted the PLCAA in 2005 to prohibit lawsuits against firearm and ammunition manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and importers, seeking recovery for the harm solely caused by the criminal or unlawful misuse of firearm products or ammunition products by others when the product functioned as designed and intended. Accordingly, the PLCAA generally bars civil suits in federal or state court against those entities when a third party criminally uses a firearm or ammunition that has been shipped in interstate or foreign commerce. As a result, the PLCAA preempts some legal remedies that may be otherwise available to shooting victims under state law. Lawsuits are allowed, however, under the following enumerated circumstances, beginning with the predicate exception at issue in Soto: * Actions brought against a manufacturer or seller who knowingly violated a state or federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing of a firearm or ammunition, and the violation proximately caused the harm for which relief is sought, including * when a manufacturer or seller knowingly makes a false entry, or fails to make an entry in, any record required to be kept under federal or state law, or * when a manufacturer or seller aids, abets, or conspires with another person to transfer a firearm or ammunition while knowing, or having reasonable cause to Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10292 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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