Connecticut Joins States Making Gun Lawsuits Easier

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Connecticut is the latest state to pass a law making it easier to sue gunmakers and sellers, 20 years after a Republican Congress passed a law giving the industry immunity from being sued over crimes committed with their firearms.

Since 2021, ten states, including Colorado, have passed laws intended to make it easier to sue gunmakers and sellers. The Connecticut law took effect this month, opening firearms manufacturers and retailers up to lawsuits if they don’t take steps to prevent guns from getting into the hands of people banned from owning them, or who should be suspected of intending to use them to hurt themselves or others. Other states have allowed lawsuits against companies deemed to have created a “public nuisance” through the sale or marketing of firearms.

These laws, and the lawsuits against gun companies that have followed, have the Gun Lobby accusing the states of trying to skirt the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

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