Hilary J. Higgins is a third-year law student at Yale Law School in New Haven, CT. She received her B.A. from Harvard College (2015) in Cambridge, MA. Jonathan E. Lowy, J.D., is Chief Counsel and Vice President of Legal at Brady United Against Gun Violence. He received his B.A. from Harvard College (1983) in Cambridge, MA, and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law (1988) in Charlottesville, VA. Andrew J. Rising is a third-year law student at Yale Law School in New Haven, CT. He received his B.A. from the University of Michigan Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy (2016) in Ann Arbor, MI.
J Law Med Ethics. 2020 Dec;48(4_suppl):83-89. doi: 10.1177/1073110520979405.
The devastating toll of gun violence has given rise to hundreds of lawsuits seeking justice on behalf of victims and their families. A significant number of challenges against gun companies, however, are blocked by courts' broad reading of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) - a federal statute often interpreted to shield the gun industry from civil liability. This article reexamines PLCAA in light of the Supreme Court's recent federalism caselaw, which counsels courts to narrowly construe federal laws that could otherwise upset the balance of power between states and the federal government. Since PLCAA infringes on traditional areas of state authority, the Supreme Court's federalism jurisprudence requires lower courts to interpret PLCAA narrowly, to not bar states from imposing negligence, nuisance, product liability, or other common law liability on gun companies. Reading PLCAA in line with federalism principles would preserve states' traditional authority over their civil justice laws, and enable gun violence victims, and their families, to hold gun companies responsible for wrongdoing.
枪支暴力造成的破坏性损失导致了数百起代表受害者及其家属寻求正义的诉讼。然而，由于法院对《保护合法武器贸易法》(PLCAA)的宽泛解读，许多针对枪支公司的挑战都被阻止了——该联邦法规通常被解释为使枪支行业免受民事责任。本文根据最高法院最近的联邦主义判例法重新审查了 PLCAA，该判例法告诫法院对可能破坏州与联邦政府之间权力平衡的联邦法律进行狭义解释。由于 PLCAA 侵犯了传统的州权领域，最高法院的联邦主义判例法要求下级法院对 PLCAA 进行狭义解释，不能禁止各州对枪支公司施加疏忽、妨害、产品责任或其他普通法责任。根据联邦主义原则解读 PLCAA 将维护各州对其民事司法法的传统权力，并使枪支暴力受害者及其家属能够追究枪支公司的责任。
