The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is applauding a unanimous decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals that finally puts an end to the City of Gary’s decades-long lawsuit against firearm manufacturers.
The ruling upholds the constitutionality of a 2024 Indiana law that makes clear only the state—not individual cities—can bring civil actions against members of the firearms industry.
With that, the court ordered the dismissal of Smith & Wesson Corp. v. City of Gary, a public nuisance case that had lingered for 26 years without producing evidence of wrongdoing.
A Long-Running Case, Finally Over
The lawsuit, originally filed in 1999 by the Gary, attempted to hold firearm manufacturers liable for crimes committed by third parties. People with no connection to the companies being sued.
Courts across the country have repeatedly rejected that legal theory, and Indiana’s appellate court has now done the same.
“This is a tremendous day for the rule of law, common sense, and the firearm industry,” said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane.
He described the case as a textbook example of “lawfare.” In other words, using the courts to impose gun control policies that lawmakers never approved.
Indiana Law Shut the Door on Municipal Lawfare
Former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed House Bill 1235 into law in 2024. The statute reserves exclusive authority to the state to bring legal actions against firearm and ammunition manufacturers, dealers, or trade associations. It blocks cities from pursuing independent lawsuits like Gary’s.
NSSF credited Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita for forcefully defending the law and seeing the case through to dismissal.
Part of a National Pattern
Gary’s lawsuit wasn’t unique. It was part of a coordinated push in the late 1990s by more than 40 big-city mayors, working alongside gun control advocacy groups and aligned trial lawyers. Those efforts collapsed nationwide.
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Similar lawsuits were dismissed in cities including Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, and St. Louis. Others, such as Boston, Cincinnati, Wilmington, and Camden quietly dropped their cases altogether.
Many of those dismissals rested on state preemption laws passed between 1999 and 2001, the same legal framework Indiana used to shut down Gary’s claim.
Reinforcing Federal Protections
The Indiana decision also aligns with long-standing federal law. Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) in 2005 to prevent manufacturers and retailers from being blamed for crimes committed with lawfully sold, non-defective firearms.
Together, PLCAA and state-level preemption laws reinforce a simple principle: responsibility for violent crime rests with criminals. Not with lawful businesses that make and sell constitutionally protected products.
Bottom Line
After more than a quarter century, the City of Gary’s lawsuit ends the same way dozens of similar cases have: dismissed.
For NSSF and the firearms industry, the ruling marks another clear judicial rejection of attempts to regulate guns through litigation instead of legislation.
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