UNITED STATES-Legislator welcomes court ruling on gun industry challenge.
NEW YORK, CMC – Caribbean-American New York State legislator Zellnor Y. Myrie has welcomed the refusal of the Supreme Court […]
Black News 
NEW YORK, CMC – Caribbean-American New York State legislator Zellnor Y. Myrie has welcomed the refusal of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to hear the gun industry’s challenge to legislation she authored regarding New York’s landmark gun industry accountability law.
“By rejecting the gun industry’s attempt to overturn this law, the court has preserved the right of New Yorkers to sue reckless and irresponsible gun dealers and manufacturers,” Myrie, who represents the 20th Senate District in Brooklyn, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Tuesday.
Myrie, whose grandmother hailed from Jamaica, said his law, the first of its kind in the US, requires gun companies operating in New York to take reasonable steps to prevent trafficking, theft and misuse of their products.
“Gun companies that refuse to take these steps may be subject to lawsuits if individuals are harmed as a result,” he said.
Myrie said that, six years ago, he introduced “a bill that stood for a straightforward proposition: New York has an obligation to protect the health and safety of every resident, and any industry- including members of the gun industry- impacting New Yorkers has to take reasonable steps to do the same.
“After five years of litigation aimed at striking down this law, the Supreme Court of the United States rejected the gun industry’s five-year quest and let the lower courts’ ruling upholding the constitutionality of the law stand,” he said.
“For New Yorkers and residents of the 10 other states that have adopted similar laws- covering close to 117 million Americans- this serves as affirmation for victims, survivors, and communities across the nation that live with the realities of gun violence daily,” Myrie added.
“We are not helpless. Gun violence is not inevitable. A safer country where bad actors are held accountable is not only possible; it is also the future of our nation. Still, our work is not yet done. At every turn, the gun industry will continue to fight laws that keep New Yorkers and communities across the country safe”.
Myrie has promised not to “rest or grow weary until our state and country eradicate the scourge of gun violence once and for all”.
Since New York enacted Myrie’s gun industry accountability law in 2021, similar laws have been adopted in California, Hawaii, Washington, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, and, most recently, Virginia.
Myrie’s legislation was introduced in August 2020 and signed into law in July 2021.
In December 2021, Myrie said the gun industry sued to block the law in federal district court.
He said the federal district court dismissed each of the gun industry’s arguments in May 2022, but the industry appealed to the Second Circuit, where they lost in July 2025.
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had signed Myrie’s measure into law, applauded SCOTUS’s decision, stating that it is “a victory for common sense and public safety”.
But Mark Oliva, a spokesperson for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) – which appealed the lower court ruling alongside Smith & Wesson, Ruger, Beretta, Glock, Sig Sauer and Sturm – said in a statement, “NSSF sincerely believes that those criminals who illegally misuse lawful products should be held responsible for the harms they cause when they commit their crimes.
“Holding the firearm industry responsible for the criminal misuse of a firearm is akin to holding Ford Motor Company responsible for damages from drunk-driving crimes,” he added.
