Protection of Law Commerce in Arms Acts (PLCAA)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 August 2025
Chapter 4 addresses the radical change in the legal landscape of firearms litigation as a consequence of Congressional enactment of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (2005) (PLCAA). The chapter traces the history of events leading to and precipitating the firearms industry and its legislative allies to introduce and enact the major statute conferring nearly blanket immunity from suit on the entire firearms industry. The discussion sets forth the constituent parts of PLCAA, including its statement of purposes, findings, definitions, and the six exceptions to immunity from suit. The chapter suggests that after 2005 PLCAA effectively stemmed the tide of firearms litigation and references the plaintiffs’ difficulties in invoking the PLCAA exceptions – to be discussed in more detail in ensuing chapters. The discussion notes the conceptual and doctrinal PLCAA victory the Sandy Hook Elementary School plaintiffs achieved in invoking PLCAA’s predicate statute exception and the implications of that judicial victory. The chapter closes with a discussion of the repeated unsuccessful legislative attempts by gun control advocates in Congress to repeal PLCAA.
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