The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to New York’s 2021 firearms liability law, leaving it in place and preserving a state legal pathway aimed at holding gunmakers accountable for harm linked to their weapons.
WASHINGTON — On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to step into a fight over New York’s firearms liability law, leaving the 2021 statute intact and keeping open a path for lawsuits under state law.
The court’s decision not to intervene means the law remains in effect. Enacted in 2021. it was designed to allow multiple legal claims against gun manufacturers for alleged harm caused by their weapons—claims that New Yorkers say can endanger public health. The law also arrived with a clear target: it was written to work around a 2005 federal statute known as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. which created a shield for gunmakers from certain kinds of lawsuits.
From the moment New York passed the measure, gunmakers took it to court. They argued that the state statute tries to exploit a loophole in the federal law—one that. they said. only permits lawsuits when a defendant “knowingly violated” a law related to the sale or marketing of a firearm and that violation directly caused harm to a plaintiff. such as in a shooting.
If New York’s approach were allowed to stand, the gunmakers said it would effectively strip the 2005 federal law of meaning. The challenge was brought by multiple gunmakers, including Glock and Smith & Wesson, along with the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
A federal judge in New York had ruled against the gunmakers, and the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed in a July 2025 ruling.
New York Attorney General Letitia James urged the Supreme Court not to take up the case. In court papers, the Democrat argued that the federal law “allows gun industry members to be held liable for the downstream acts of third parties in some circumstances.”
The Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene also preserves an ongoing tension that the court has recently navigated in other firearm-related litigation. A conservative majority has generally sided with gun rights. and last year it invoked the same 2005 federal law to dismiss a novel lawsuit brought by the Mexican government against gun manufacturers.
For now, the New York law stays in place. Still, it could face additional legal challenges in the future, even after Monday’s decision left the immediate dispute unresolved at the nation’s highest court.
Supreme Court New York firearms liability law Glock Smith & Wesson National Shooting Sports Foundation Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act Letitia James