A New Law Lets the Maryland Ag Sue People Who Make or Sell Guns

A new law that starts on June 1 lets the Maryland attorney general and lawyers for counties and Baltimore City sue members of the firearm industry if they sell, make, distribute, import, or market a firearm-related product in a way that is “illegal” or “unreasonable” and they know it hurts the public.

Eight other states have already passed rules like this one. David Pucino, the legal director at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, says that New Jersey’s law is the most like Maryland’s new law.

As examples of how Maryland’s law is likely to work, Pucino brought up two cases from New Jersey. One of them is against a company that sells items related to “ghost guns,” which are banned in both New Jersey and Maryland because they don’t have serial numbers.

“There was a business selling ghost guns in Pennsylvania, not New Jersey, and they knew that right away those guns would be brought across the border into New Jersey and used in crime there,” Pucino said.

That shop, on the other hand, didn’t lock up its guns at night; instead, it left them out in the window. Then someone broke into the store and stole the guns.

In New Jersey, those guns are still being seen on the streets because of crime, Pucino said.

Thanks to a federal law called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, or PLCAA, most lawsuits against the gun business are safe. Supporters like Pucino say that PLCAA doesn’t stop states from making laws with rules that gun sellers and makers must follow and suing them when they don’t.

The head of the gun rights group Maryland Shall Issue, Mark Pennak, didn’t agree. He said that Maryland’s law not only goes against PLCAA and the Second Amendment, but it also doesn’t say what kind of behavior could lead to a case, which is against the Constitution.

“Some cases are brought where the retailer is said to have known and should have taught his employees to know that this particular purchase, even though it passed a background check and was otherwise legal, we should have known that this person was going to use the gun for illegal purposes,” Pennak said. “That’s crazy.” That is not something that anyone can follow.

Anne Arundel County’s Worth-A-Shot sells guns. The store’s owner, Donna Worthy, said she goes above and beyond what the law requires to keep people safe. For instance, she makes her staff go through a safety review with every customer who brings home a gun, even if they buy guns from her all the time.

Worthy said, “If I do something wrong, I can go to jail right away.” “Laws are already in place to get rid of the bad guys.” This bill is against everyone, good and bad in equal measure.

Worthy is the head of the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association. She said that the group is thinking about going to court to fight the new rule.

Fans and opponents of the law both say they think the law will be challenged.

Mark Graber, a constitutional law professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, said that the judges’ political views will probably determine how the case turns out. He said it wasn’t clear if conservative judges would follow the rules.

He explained, “The court could say there were too many interpretations of this law that go against [the 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen]—that you need to be specific about the weapons you say pose an unreasonable risk of danger and the sales you think pose an unreasonable risk of danger.” “Otherwise, you’re limiting rights under the Second Amendment.”

Anthony Brown, the attorney general of Maryland, wrote to Gov. Wes Moore earlier this month and said that the law is not unconstitutional and does not break any federal rules like PLCAA.

State Sen. Will Smith, who is chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and a co-sponsor of the new law in his chamber, said that he knew the law would be controversial, but he reassured the state’s gun stores, manufacturers, and other companies that deal with guns.

Smith said, “There are bad people out there who want to take advantage of and market in a way that is harmful to public safety.” “You have nothing to fear,” though, for the people who are following the rules.