The courts must dismiss Gary’s 25-year-old lawsuit against gun manufacturers and sellers, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said.
“From the get-go, Gary’s lawsuit amounted to a swipe at Hoosiers’ Second Amendment rights,” Attorney General Rokita said. “In effect, the city is trying to use the courts rather than the legislature to enact gun policies and regulate law-abiding citizens’ access to weapons and ammunition.”
Under a law passed in 2024, only the State of Indiana has the authority to pursue the type of legal action the city is attempting, Attorney General Rokita argued in a brief filed last week with the Indiana Court of Appeals.
“The state legislature — acting on behalf of the everyday Hoosiers who elect its members — confers to cities and towns certain powers and functions,” Attorney General Rokita said. “The City of Gary cannot, then, choose to exercise powers that the legislature expressly has forbidden.”
In Gary’s lawsuit — originally brought in August 1999 against 11 firearm manufacturers, one firearm wholesaler, five retailers and other defendants — the city alleges that the defendants manufactured, designed, marketed or sold firearms that were later used to commit crimes within the city.