Judge upholds gun legislation

But case likely to be appealed, and could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court

A New York law that could hold the gun industry accountable after their products are used in deadly shootings has been upheld by a federal judge — its first major legal hurdle, though the law is likely to face appeals that could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

New York Democrats nonetheless celebrated Wednesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Mae D’agostino, which favored state Attorney General Letitia James and entirely dismissed a case brought by 15 gun rights groups that had argued the law was unconstitutional.

State Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, D-albany, a sponsor of the legislation, said she and advocates have been going through “emotional whiplash” following the back-to-back mass shootings in Buffalo and Texas.

“There are times you just get stunned,” Fahy said. The ruling “is a reminder that it’s not hopeless.”

“The nation is in mourning and those of us who work in the gun violence space have really been in a moment of despair in thinking about what the solutions could be, and how we might have an impact on stemming this unmitigated march of mass shootings,” said state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, D-brooklyn, the architect of the law.

Myrie described the ruling as a “landmark” and said it “makes plain for the public that states have the rights to protect their citizens.”

Fahy described the law as a way to go after the supply chain of firearms, especially anonymized ghost guns, that pass through the “iron pipeline” from states with meager gun control laws. She expressed hope irresponsible or negligent gun manufacturers and distributors “will be held accountable through litigation.”

Groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Central Texas Gun Works and Smith & Wesson sought to block the law, which was signed into law last year.

It could be employed in a civil action brought by a victim of gun violence who can demonstrate they suffered harm from an illegal gun that came from a dealer who regularly and knowingly sells guns to people who turn around and illegally traffic the product.

Another possible plaintiff, legal experts said, could be someone injured in a mass shooting carried out by someone who was influenced by aggressive marketing that enticed the shooter to buy a gun and use it to do violence.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Lawrence G. Keane, the trade group’s senior vice president and general counsel, said the association was “disappointed by the court’s ruling.”

In a statement, James called the decision a “moment of light and hope” and said, “New York is proud to defend the right to impose reasonable gun restrictions that protect all of us.”

New York, like other states across the country, has experienced a sharp increase in gun violence and homicides during the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2020, New York had a total of 1,052 gun deaths, according to data from the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium. It was the first time in a decade that there were at least 1,000 gun deaths in the state and in which a majority of gun deaths were by homicide and not suicide.

New York had the fifth-lowest gun death rate in the nation in 2020, according to the Rockefeller Institute. The rates in Mississippi, Wyoming and Louisiana were more than five times the Empire State’s.

In 2020, America had the highest rate of homicide among Western industrialized nations, according to data from the United Nations. The country’s homicide rate was triple that of Canada, and six times that of Germany. Its homicide rate was just above the rate of Mongolia, and just below Russia.