Courts declare New Jersey anti-gun law cannot be enforced

Robert Besser
05 Feb 2023, 08:48 GMT+10

A federal judge has blocked a New Jersey law allowing the state's attorney-general to sue gun manufacturers and sellers for endangering public safety
US District Judge Zahid Quraishi in Trenton, New Jersey, ruled that the new law did not comply with a federal law protecting the gun industry
He said the law cannot be enforced while the court considers a legal challenge by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry group

TRENTON, New Jersey: A federal judge has blocked a New Jersey law allowing the state's attorney-general to sue gun manufacturers and sellers for endangering public safety.

US District Judge Zahid Quraishi in Trenton, New Jersey, ruled that the new law did not comply with a federal law protecting the gun industry, and that the law cannot be enforced while the court considers a legal challenge by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry group.

The judgment comes one day after a different judge struck down parts of a separate gun control measure in New Jersey.

A spokesperson for New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he was disappointed and confident the order would be reversed on appeal.

The recently blocked law, which was passed last June after a US Supreme Court ruling expanding gun rights, allows the state attorney-general to bring lawsuits accusing gun manufactures and sellers of creating a "public nuisance" that endangers health and safety.

However, according to Quraishi, it was in "direct conflict" with the federal law that protects gun makers and sellers from being sued over crimes committed with legally-sold guns, known as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is also challenging similar laws in Delaware and in New York, where it lost its initial bid to block enforcement.

After mass shootings in Texas and New York that killed more than 30 people, including 19 children at an elementary school in June, Democratic President Joe Biden signed the first bipartisan national gun safety bill passed in 30 years.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to North Carolina Daily.

More Information

30 ℉

Fair in Statesville

US Business

Section

Banks rebound lifting U.S. stock markets, Nasdaq gains 45 points

NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rallied on Monday following the weekend buy-in of Credit Suisse by UBS, which ...

US loans $300 billion to banks following closing of SVB bank

WASHINGTON D.C.: The US Federal Reserve Bank has announced that cash-strapped banks throughout the US borrowed some $300 billion during ...

Deloitte agrees to pay $31 mln fine to China after mistakes in audit

BEIJING, China: Following the inability of China Huarong Asset Management Co Ltd to release financial reporting obligations in 2020, China ...

UBS to buy Credit Suisse for fraction of its value, Swiss government to underwrite losses

ZURICH, Switzerland - Depositors will be fully protected, shareholders will have their equity dwarfed, while bond holders will be largely ...

SpaceX, Netflix, Boeing join largest US business mission to Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam: SpaceX, Netflix and Boeing will join what is described as the "biggest-ever" U.S. business mission to meet in ...

US will seek jail sentence for Chinese businessman Guo Wengui

WASHINGTON D.C.: The US government has charged exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui with being the mastermind behind a complex conspiracy ...

US

Section