Gunmaker Protections Rejected by Pennsylvania Appeals Court

A federal law that shields gun manufacturers from liability when their products are used to a commit crime is unconstitutional, a Pennsylvania appeals court ruled Monday.

A trial court had ruled that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act barred a lawsuit brought by the parents of a 13-year-old boy who was accidentally shot and killed by a friend. Mark and Leah Gustafson sued the manufacturer and seller of the weapon, alleging negligence.

The couple alleged that the gun’s design was defective because it lacked a safety feature to disable it from firing without the clip attached. They believe this defect, along with the friend’s criminal misuse of the gun, caused their son’s death. The weapon was manufactured by Springfield Armory in Illinois and sold by Saloom Department Store in Pennsylvania, court documents indicate.

The PLCAA infringes on powers reserved for states and improperly regulates states’ abilities to apply their respective common laws, in violation of the Tenth Amendment, Judge Deborah A. Kunselman wrote for the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

The law requires dismissal if the facts of the case meet the definition of a qualified-civil-liability action: a suit arising from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm, the court said. Congress’ definition of qualified-civil-liability action is unconstitutional—and thus unenforceable—because the PLCAA provides that such an action can’t be brought in federal or state court, she said.

The court also rejected the defense arguments based on the Commerce Clause. Neither the Gustafsons nor their son purchased the gun used to kill him, and therefore they didn’t engage in commerce of any kind, Kunselman wrote.

“Merely because, at some point in time, that gun passed through interstate commerce, does not give Congress perpetual authority to regulate any harm it may cause,” Kunselman wrote.

Further, the filing of a state lawsuit based on state tort law is in no sense an economic activity that might substantially affect any sort of interstate commerce, the court said.

Judges John T. Bender and John L. Musmanno joined the opinion.

Carlson Lynch Sweet Kilpela & Carpenter and Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence represent the Gustafsons. Tremba, Kinney, Greiner & Kerr LLC and the Renzulli Law Firm LLP represent the gunmakers.

The case is Gustafson v. Springfield Inc., Pa. Super. Ct., No. 207, 9/28/20.