NJ creates office to sue gun manufactures, vowing to 'hold the industry accountable'

By Steve Janoski
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... New Jersey on Monday [07/25/2022] announced the creation of a state office dedicated to suing gun manufacturers, retailers and distributors, in the Garden State;s latest response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that undercut its strict local gun laws.
..... Dubbed the Statewide Affirmative firearms Enforcement Office, it will fall under the purview of acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin rely heavily on new law that lets the state go after the gun industry in court for the suffering its products may cause.
..... "We're going to use it aggressively and we're going to hold the [gun] industry accountable for the harms they're causing in New Jersey," Platkin said. "With the establishment of this office, we are sending a clear message to every participant in the firearms industry" if you violate our laws, you will pay."
..... Platkin created the office as Garden State officials continue to grapple with how to strengthen gun laws amid a spate of mass shootings and a Supreme Court decision last month [06/2022] that loosened gun-carry laws throughout the nation.
..... That ruling declared unconstitutional a New York State law that let local licensing officials refuse to grant a carry permit to anyone who couldn't show a "special need" for self-protection.
..... It invalidated New Jersey;s similarly strict rule, which mandated that applicants for a carry permit show a justifiable need to carry a handgun.
..... The decision will likely lead to more people carrying firearms in public, state officials have said.
..... Even as New Jersey lost its proxy battle before the Supreme Court, the state has moved to further tighten its already restrictive gun laws.
..... Late last month, [06/2022] Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a seven-bill package that required firearms training for New Jersey gun owners, banned .50-caliber rifles and mandated that firearms incorporate micro-stamping technology, which allows bullets to be individually marked as they are fired to allow for tracing.
..... Included in that package was the public nuisance law, which lets the state sue manufacturers and retail dealers for endangering the health and safety of New Jersey residents through the sale, manufacture, distribution or marketing of firearms, according to a statement from the Attorney General's Office.
..... Pro-gun groups immediately decried the move.
..... "New Jersey bureaucrats are hell-bent on destroying the firearms industry, despite the fact that they make legal, properly functioning products," said Scott Bach, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs. "Rather than punish gun criminals, they contort the law to weaponize government against manufacturers who empower citizens to denned themselves in an emergency."
..... The state's definition of a public nuisance is extraordinarily broad - the statute defines it as any condition that injures, endangers or threatens the health, safety, peace, comfort or convenience of others.
..... This means state authorities will have wide latitude to pursue damages against, for instance, a company that peddles ghost guns, unmarked weapons that can be purchased Online, Platkin said in a <Monday [07/25/2022] interview.
..... The law would also allow action against a company that sells an illegal assault rifle to a state resident or one that provides a gun to a straw purchaser who later passes it to someone who failed a background check, he said.
..... Platlin said the threat of liability will also force the gun industry to enact reasonable controls to stop unlawful gun use.
..... "We can go after companies for not having those controls in place. We can go after companies for illegally selling firearms to New Jersey. We can go after companies for selling firearms in ways that don't protect against straw purchasers or people who shouldn't have guns," Platkin said. "There's a whole range of conduct that this will hold accountable ... it's a very broad tool."
..... The attorney general has not decided how many will staff the new office, which will focus exclusively on branning those legal actions. But Platkin said it will be a mix of state attorneys and investigators.
..... He expects that it will generate significant revenue for the state and recover damages for New Jersey residents, he said.
..... "We've seen it in the automobile industry, the tobacco industry," Platkin said. "When there's civil liability and significant penalties, industries reform. And I hope we're able to provide some meaningful relief for victims of gun violence throughout our state."

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