{"id":190553,"date":"2023-04-26T14:24:53","date_gmt":"2023-04-26T18:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=178777"},"modified":"2023-04-26T14:24:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T14:53:40","slug":"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Michigan Gov. Whitmer signs gun reform bills\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HjgtYQTDsfE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-\"><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>By Larry Keane<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michigan lawmakers \u2013 including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer \u2013&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/michigan-government\/after-passing-three-gun-bills-michigan-democrats-say-theyre-not-done\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\" title=\"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal\"><strong>are toying<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;with the idea of turning state courtrooms into political arenas for gun control instead of forcing criminals to stand before judges for their crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>State legislators are considering&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox2detroit.com\/news\/next-batch-of-state-gun-bills-could-face-hurdles-including-magazine-size-ability-to-sue-gun-stores\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\" title=\"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal\">introducing a bill<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;that would allow victim families to sue firearm manufacturers, distributors and retailers for the heinous crimes committed by criminals. Let\u2019s say that again so it is clear. Michigan\u2019s legislators want to allow lawsuits against the firearm industry for crimes they didn\u2019t commit. There\u2019s no talk about dragging murderers, thugs, gang members and other criminals into courts to face a judge to answer for their crimes. Instead, Gov. Whitmer and these state legislators are looking to score cheap political points to allow public nuisance lawsuits against firearm manufacturers and those mom-and-pop gun stores that are following federal and state laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a dangerous step that only seeks to eliminate the ability of law-abiding Michiganders to legally obtain a firearm. This notion doesn\u2019t address crime. The intent is to run local gun stores out of business and out of Michigan. When those who obey the law can\u2019t legally obtain a firearm, they\u2019re being denied their Constitutional Second Amendment rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-facts-first\">Facts First<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Firearm retailers only sell firearms after a gun buyer fills out an ATF Form 4473 that attests they are the true recipient of the firearm, not a convicted felon or fugitive from justice, not have been convicted of domestic violence and aren\u2019t subject to an arrest warrant. After that, the firearm retailer verifies with the FBI\u2019s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) that the buyer is not prohibited from possessing a firearm. If the FBI verifies, then the sale or transfer of a firearm can proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This isn\u2019t how criminals obtain firearms. The Department of Justice\u2019s (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/inmate-survey-criminals-break-the-law-to-obtain-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\" title=\"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal\"><strong>studies show<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;that 90 percent of felons convicted of committing a crime with a firearm admit to obtaining their firearm illegally \u2013 mostly through an illegal black market sale or by theft. These criminals aren\u2019t passing background checks so they can prey upon the innocent in Michigan. They are committing crimes to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gov. Whitmer and Michigan legislators pushing for lawsuits against the firearm industry won\u2019t bother with those facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tried-and-failed\">Tried and Failed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This notion of public nuisance lawsuits against the firearm industry isn\u2019t new. This was a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/primer-on-repealing-plcaa\/#:~:text=The%20Protection%20of%20Lawful%20Commerce,firearms%20by%20remote%20third%20parties.\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\" title=\"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal\"><strong>tried-and-failed tactic<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Municipalities sued firearm businesses for the crimes committed by remote third parties\u2013 commonly referred to as criminals \u2013 and those cases were thrown out of court. They never passed a basic understanding of tort law \u2013 that those who commit the crime and inflict harm are the ones responsible for that harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That wasn\u2019t the point of the lawsuits, though, just as it is not now. The true intent of the lawsuits was revealed by disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said when he was the Housing and Urban Development Secretary in the Clinton Administration, that these lawsuits were designed to impose on the firearm industry a \u201cdeath by a thousand cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">SEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/update-michigan-senate-passes-gun-confiscation-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\" title=\"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal\">Michigan Senate Passes Gun Confiscation Bill<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Professor Victor Schwartz, a former law professor and law school dean and the current co-chairman of the Public Policy Group of the law firm Shook, Hardy &amp; Bacon, wrote in&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/op-eds\/setting-the-record-straight-on-so-called-firearm-industry-immunity\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\" title=\"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal\">The Washington Examiner<\/a><\/strong>, \u201cFormer Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich aptly labeled this strategy \u2018regulation through litigation.\u2019 He recognized that it amounts to \u2018faux legislation, which sacrifices democracy\u2019 by using the judiciary to implement policy preferences in place of the representative branches of government. Under such a litigation strategy, any lawful yet \u2018unpopular\u2019 industry may be targeted and sued out of existence based on the conduct of criminals or other third parties who misuse products.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before Gov. Cuomo was forced to resign from office in disgrace, he signed a similar law for New York. New Jersey\u2019s Gov. Phil Murphy also signed a similar law. NSSF is challenging both laws because they don\u2019t stand up to the federal law that prohibits these frivolous lawsuits \u2013 the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). That\u2019s the law that was passed with a wide bipartisan majority in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2005. That law has been repeatedly upheld as Constitutional by Courts of Appeal and even&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dcreport.org\/2021\/10\/11\/justice-department-backs-shield-law-protecting-gunmakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\" title=\"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal\">defended<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;by President Joe Biden\u2019s Attorney General Merrick Garland and the DOJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-s-at-stake\">What\u2019s At Stake<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The claim that gun businesses are immune is a lie. That\u2019s been&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/2021\/04\/bidens-missteps-on-gun-policies\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\" title=\"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal\">fact-checked<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;time and again. PLCAA prevents frivolous lawsuits against firearm businesses over the criminal actions committed by remote third parties. Firearm businesses can still be held accountable if they commit a crime, there is negligent entrustment or product design flaws. PLCAA simply means those businesses that lawfully-made and lawfully-sold a firearm cannot be held responsible for the crimes committed by others. It would be the same as if someone attempted to sue Ford and Anheuser Busch for the harm caused by drunk driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/primer-on-repealing-plcaa\/#:~:text=The%20Protection%20of%20Lawful%20Commerce,firearms%20by%20remote%20third%20parties.\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\" title=\"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal\"><strong>reason PLCAA was signed<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;into law was because Congress knew antigun politicians were using the courts as an end-round to circumvent the lawmaking process. The irony was elected officials then \u2013 and now \u2013 oppose PLCAA because it blocked their \u201cattempt to circumvent the Legislative branch of government\u201d and \u201cwould expand civil liability in a manner never contemplated by the framers of the Constitution.\u201d Those are actual words within the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gov. Whitmer and antigun politicians in Michigan would rather use the courts to push their radical gun control agenda instead of using them to lock up criminals. They\u2019re carrying the water for special interest groups, including trial lawyers that see this opportunity as a cash cow. That\u2019s not justice for anyone. That\u2019s abuse of the courts and denigration of Second Amendment rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Larry Keane\u00a0<\/strong><em>is Senior Vice President of Government and Public Affairs and General Counsel for the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\" title=\"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal\">National Shooting Sports Foundation<\/a>, the firearms industry trade association.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" style=\"font-size:24px\"><strong><em>*** <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"michigan-targets-firearm-retailers-ignores-criminals-with-lawsuit-proposal\" title=\"Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals with Lawsuit Proposal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a> ***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michigan lawmakers \u2013 including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer \u2013\u00a0are toying\u00a0with the idea of turning state courtrooms into political arenas for gun control instead of forcing criminals to stand before judges for their crimes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":178778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1803,240],"tags":[132,586,607],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-190553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news-wire","8":"category-this-week","9":"tag-buzz","10":"tag-column","11":"tag-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Michigan Targets Firearm Retailers, Ignores Criminals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michigan lawmakers \u2013 including Gov. 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