One that shields gun manufacturers Sig Sauer and others from being sued when criminals or careless individuals misuse firearms. This also comes at a time when lawsuits are mounting against Sig for their P-320 pistol. And before we dive in, a big thank you to today’s sponsor Blackout Coffee we are running a flash sale on our instant coffee 25% off for 72 hours only only if you use code instant25 stock up while it lasts and support a pro to a American-owned business. Blackoutcoffee.com slash gng down below. Alright guys let’s talk about what just happened in the granite state and maybe this ripples across the nation who knows.

Back in April Bobby Cox who’s an executive with Sig Sauer had a request for the state legislature he said that his company which is one of the biggest gun manufacturers in the US and one of the biggest employers in New Hampshire’s seacoast area they need a protection. Specifically Sig Sauer wanted state lawmakers to shield it from a barrage of liability lawsuits that alleged the company’s best-selling P-320 pistol has an inherent safety defect. Now Cox told a Senate committee quote we want to bring this amendment to you to show what out-of-state plaintiffs attorneys are doing attacking in-state businesses and we ask for your support and help.

Well the New Hampshire legislature rushed House Bill 1186 which grants civil immunity in New Hampshire to gun manufacturers and dealers when their lawfully sold products are misused by others and last week Governor Kelly Ayotte signed the bill only one day after it cleared its final vote despite objections from some Democrats as well as lawyers and injured plaintiffs who say that the company should be forced to defend the claims in court. The speed with which the bill moved through the state house underscores both Sig Sauer’s desire to cut off future costly lawsuits in the state and the company’s sway in the legislature run by gun friendly Republicans.

The translation if a firearm was sold legally and without defects and without defects someone later uses that unlawfully or negligently then the manufacturer can’t be sued for what that person did. It’s a huge win for companies like Sig Sauer which is headquartered right in New Hampshire and is facing a series of lawsuits over the alleged unintentional discharges involving their P-320 pistol. Supporters of the bill say this is about common sense that tools shouldn’t be blamed for the actions of bad or irresponsible people. After all you don’t sue Ford when someone drives drunk so they say why should Sig Sauer be held liable when someone misuses a legally sold firearm.

I agree with that. Now opponents though are calling this a corporate giveaway and claim that it’s a get-out-of-jail free card for the gun industry. Robert Zimmerman you’ve heard that name a few times here in this channel is a Pennsylvania based attorney who’s filed dozens of cases against the company said quote Sig Sauer should focus on changing the defective design of its P-320. Instead Sig Sauer is paying lobbyists to change New Hampshire law to deprive local state and federal law enforcement officers and private gun owners from having their day in court and to hold Sig Sauer accountable for their serious injuries.

Zimmerman has won I think he’s won two cases with pretty major payouts so far with more coming down the pipeline and let’s be real this isn’t happening in a vacuum. Sig Sauer has been in the crosshairs of anti-gun attorneys for years now over that 320. Since its rollout in 2017 the P-320 pistol has become one of the country’s most popular pistols with more than 3.6 million guns sold. A version of the 320 is now carried by soldiers across every branch of the US military and the 320 is a leading choice for many local and state law enforcement agencies.

There are currently dozens of lawsuits claiming that the 320 which is used by law enforcement agencies and the military can fire without the trigger being pulled. Now Sig Sauer denies these claims emphatically citing extensive testing engineering upgrades and user negligence in a few cases where accidents occurred yet Sig did update the 320’s user manual to recommend not carrying the firearm with one in the chamber. It’s interesting and it’s kind of hard to do that and still be in law enforcement so will law enforcement agencies reconsider carrying that gun? I don’t know what do I know.

So here’s what’s really happening here. Gun control activists are trying to use civil courts to accomplish what they can’t get done legislatively. It’s called lawfare using lawsuits as a weapon to destroy gun makers and this New Hampshire bill is meant to stop that. Now critics are spreading a lot of misinformation about what the law actually does. Here’s what it doesn’t do. It doesn’t protect manufacturers if they sell defective firearms. It doesn’t protect them if they break the law or violate regulations. It doesn’t protect them from being sued if their products actually malfunction due to negligent design or manufacturing defects.

What it does is protect them from being sued simply because someone else did something illegal or careless with the gun that they legally bought. This mirrors protections already in place at the federal level under the Protection of Lawful Commerce and Arms Act, PLCAA, PLCAA or Placa. It’s a law that’s been around and been under attack by the gun control groups for years. Now what New Hampshire did was add a state-level shield reinforcing the same common sense protection that gun makers shouldn’t be held liable for criminal misuse. As you can imagine this law is kind of set off a political firestorm.

Democrats, gun control advocates and anti-gun lawyers are railing against the new law and they claim it will prevent victims from getting justice. But let’s break that down. This law only affects who you can sue. It doesn’t take away the right of a gun owner to be held responsible if they’re careless and it doesn’t affect criminal prosecutions. Republicans in New Hampshire however are calling the bill a defensive measure designed to prevent frivolous lawsuits and keep the firearms industry alive in the state, one that has a long and proud tradition of gun ownership.

Here’s the bigger picture. States across the country are going in two very different directions. Some like California and New York are trying to make it easier to sue gun manufacturers. Others like Tennessee, Texas, Florida and now New Hampshire are standing up to that trend protecting the firearms industry from being blamed for the criminal acts of others. In fact here in Tennessee we just added on to our state-level PLCAA where it now protects FFLs and private sales and that’s huge. I think it’s the only one in the country that does that.

Now if anti-gun groups are allowed to bankrupt companies like Six Hour through endless litigation it sets a dangerous precedent for other manufacturers whether they’re big or small. That is if their guns are not the issue because of design or malfunction. That’s the whole part of the PLCAA. So what do you guys and gals think? Is New Hampshire leading the way in protecting gun rights or is this new law going to fuel more legal fights? Drop your thoughts in the comments down below and be sure to share this video so that more people understand what’s really at stake.

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