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October 21, 2016
Connecticut Court Ruling on PLCAA Demonstrates Importance of Election
Last week a Connecticut Superior Court judge issued a decision rightfully upholding the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) and dismissing a suit brought against the Remington companies, a distributor and a retailer. The suit attempted to claim that the lawful manufacture, distribution and sale of an AR-15 type rifle constituted “negligent entrustment,” a view significantly widening that concept.
“Although PLCAA provides a narrow exception under which plaintiffs may maintain an action for negligent entrustment of a firearm, the allegations in the present case do not fit within the common-law tort of negligent entrustment under well-established Connecticut law,” the judge wrote.
The judge’s decision is a reminder of the critical role the PLCAA serves in supporting the Second Amendment. If the PLCAA was repealed, as Hillary Clinton has asserted she would like to see, the firearms industry would be the target of those who are politically motivated to destroy it. The industry would again be crippled under the weight of legally baseless lawsuits brought by aggressive trial lawyers, gun control groups like the Brady Center and antigun politicians, and would eventually have to cease operations due to the expense of defending itself in court.
The PLCAA was enacted in 2005 to protect manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and importers of firearms from vexatious litigation – chiefly orchestrated out of her husband’s White House — seeking to blame industry members for the criminal acts being committed with their legal and lawfully sold products by remote unaffiliated third parties. This is the same type of protection that every industry in America is afforded. Much in the same way General Motors is not held accountable for the actions of customers who purchase their legal, non-defective, and lawfully sold cars; firearm manufacturers should not held accountable for the subsequent criminal misuse actions of those who legally purchase their firearms, let alone by firearms that were stolen.
The PLCAA essentially codifies longstanding common law and requires that the firearms industry be treated the same as other industries. The law remains popular with Americans despite Hillary Clinton purposely misrepresenting it to gain points with her political base.
Hillary Clinton has demonstrated a pattern of blatant dishonesty by telling Americans that the PLCAA confers a blanket immunity unique to the firearm industry that frees the industry from any accountability- a claim that won Clinton a rating of false from Politifact.
Mrs. Clinton has made it clear that she will work to repeal PLCAA, if elected. It recently came to light that her campaign spokesman has briefed reporters that she plans to reverse PLCAA in some fashion through executive order. The time is now to make our voices heard and stand up for the PLCAA and those willing to uphold it.
Categories: Featured, Government Relations, Top Stories
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