For Immediate Release
April 2, 2026
Media Contact: Damon Sidur
BOISE, ID — Attorney General Raúl Labrador joined a coalition led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen in defending firearms manufacturers against lawsuits filed by the cities of Buffalo and Rochester, New York. The cities are attempting to hold Smith & Wesson, Glock, Ruger, and Taurus financially liable for crimes committed by third parties using lawfully manufactured and sold firearms.
The consolidated lawsuits seek to circumvent the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which Congress enacted in 2005 specifically to stop politically motivated litigation designed to bankrupt the firearms industry through legal fees. Before PLCAA, anti-gun activists coordinated a wave of municipal lawsuits in the 1990s and early 2000s that forced the firearms industry to spend over $200 million in defense costs, causing some manufacturers to close and others to lose insurance coverage.
The amicus brief filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York argues that Buffalo and Rochester’s claims are barred by federal law and violate the Second Amendment. The brief points out that while these cities blame lawful gun manufacturers for crime, both cities have adopted sanctuary policies that prevent cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and bail reform laws that release violent offenders back onto streets instead of detaining them.
“Buffalo and Rochester are trying to bankrupt gun manufacturers by holding them liable for crimes they did not commit, eliminating Americans’ ability to buy firearms and exercise their Second Amendment rights,” said Attorney General Labrador. “Congress prohibited these lawsuits in 2005 to stop activists from destroying the firearms industry through litigation instead of working through legislatures. Instead of prosecuting criminals and keeping violent offenders behind bars, these cities are attacking the companies that supply firearms to law-abiding Americans and law enforcement across our country.”
The PLCAA prohibits lawsuits against firearms manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and trade associations for damages resulting from criminal misuse of their lawfully sold products by third parties. Congress found that the firearms industry is heavily regulated, operates lawfully, and should not be liable for crimes committed by others. The law protects manufacturers from being used by activist groups and politicians to achieve through litigation what they cannot accomplish through the legislative process.
Buffalo and Rochester’s lawsuits claim gun manufacturers violated New York’s “reasonable controls” statute by not doing enough to prevent criminal misuse of their products after lawful sale. The cities seek both monetary damages and court-imposed supervision of manufacturing and distribution practices. The amicus brief argues these claims are precisely what PLCAA prohibits and would unconstitutionally burden Second Amendment rights.
Read the brief here.
Read more from Fox News here.
About Raúl Labrador
Raúl Labrador is the 33rd Attorney General of Idaho. The Office of the Attorney General provides legal representation for the State of Idaho. This representation is furnished to state agencies, offices and boards in the furtherance of the state's legal interests. The office is part of state government’s executive branch and its duties are laid out in the Idaho Constitution.
