The governor of Utah has signed into law a measure to help protect firearm- and firearm-accessory-related businesses in the Beehive State.
House Bill 214, called the Firearms Liability Amendments, prevents foreign nationals and political subdivisions from launching junk lawsuits and creating civil liabilities for firearms manufacturers, gun sellers and trade organizations, according to the National
Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed the measure on March 26.
Nephi Cole, NSSF director of government relations – state affairs, helped push the measure through the legislative process and was on hand for the signing ceremony.
“Utah is leading the nation in adding protections for members of the firearm and ammunition industry from activists who engage in lawfare to enact gun control measures through frivolous litigation,” Cole said in a news article announcing the signing. “Utah lawmakers recognized that malevolent actors have ignored the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to bring frivolous lawsuits against members of the firearm and ammunition industry for the criminal misuse of lawfully sold firearms. With Gov. Cox’s signature, Utah is making clear that gun control advocates will not be allowed to launch junk lawsuits against the firearm industry in Utah.”
In a nutshell, the measure blocks lawsuits that gun control advocates have pursued to circumvent the bipartisan PLCAA, passed by Congress in order to stop such lawfare efforts. The new Utah law specifically addresses the so-called “predicate exception” and adds PLCAA-like protections to firearm accessories and products like suppressors intended to be attached to and used in conjunction with firearms and ammunition.
The new law states: “This chapter preempts a political subdivision from enacting any legislation, code, ordinance, or rule that imposes civil liability on a manufacturer, seller, or trade association for the criminal misuse, alteration, or modification of a qualified product under any theory of liability. Any legislation, code, ordinance, or rule made by a political subdivision of this state described in Subsection (1) is superseded by this chapter.”
Utah is the first state to pass the NSSF’s state liability reform language and brings added protection against attempts by gun control advocates to force “legislation through litigation” and impose gun control measures that have been expressly rejected by legislative bodies.
“The PLCAA blocks lawsuits that attempt to hold firearm and ammunition industry companies liable for the criminal actions of third parties who misuse the industry’s legal, lawfully sold, non-defective products,” the NSSF wrote in the article. “More specifically, this common-sense law ensures that responsible and law-abiding federally licensed manufacturers and retailers of firearms and ammunition are not unjustly blamed in federal and state civil actions for ‘the harm caused by those who criminally or unlawfully misuse’ these products that function as designed and intended.”
