A federal judge has blocked a New Jersey law that allowed the state to sue members of the firearms industry when their products become a “public nuisance.”
In June 2022, Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill into law that allows the New Jersey attorney general to pursue civil cases against members of the gun industry if the state determines that their sales or marketing practices are a public nuisance.
The New Jersey law states members of the gun industry “shall not, by conduct either unlawful in itself or unreasonable under all the circumstances, knowingly or recklessly create, maintain, or contribute to a public nuisance in this State through the sale, manufacturing, importing, or marketing of a qualified product.” The law states that if the attorney general believes a member of the gun industry has fallen afoul of that above language, they can be sued and the attorney general “shall not be required to demonstrate that the gun industry member acted with the purpose to engage in any public nuisance or otherwise cause harm to the public” or “demonstrate any special injury” has occurred….