Smith and Wesson has threatened to shutter its 44,000-square-foot Houlton facility if a Democratic gun control bill under consideration in Augusta becomes law.
The proposed bill passed this week by in the House of Representatives.
It would allow firearms manufacturers to be sued civilly over damages tied to the illegal sale or marketing of their products, a risk that could drive manufacturers out of the state, according to a Friday letter from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), a national firearms industry trade association.
The bill, LD 1696, sponsored by Cape Elizabeth Democratic Rep. Rebecca Millett, would allow a civil cause of action to be brought against firearm industry members who “knowingly” sell or market a firearm-related product in a manner that promotes illegal modification, is targeted towards persons prohibited from possessing a firearm, or in a manner that is “unconscionable or deceptive.”
Although firearms manufacturers are protected from civil liability in most cases under the 2005 federal Protect of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), except in instances of defective products, negligence or other criminal conduct, states may still pass their own legislation holding manufacturers and dealers to a higher legal standard.
Under Rep. Millett’s “Act to Create a Civil Cause of Action for Persons Suffering Damages Arising from the Sale of Abnormally Dangerous Firearms,” the Maine Attorney General would be empowered to investigate and sue firearms industry members for violations of the new sales and marketing guidelines, and to seek civil penalties between $10,000 and $100,000 for each violation.
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Private individuals would also be allowed to bring a civil cause of action against firearms manufactures to seek the recovery of damages tied to violations of the provisions set forth in the bill, and for injunctive relief and “reasonable” attorney’s fees and costs.
The Maine House advanced the proposed bill Thursday night in a 76-72 vote.
In a Friday letter of opposition to LD 1696, an NSSF representative stated the close to 100 firearms-related businesses located in Maine, including a Smith and Wesson plant in Houlton, would “strongly consider relocation” to another state if the bill becomes law.
The Houlton Smith and Wesson plant, which opened in 1966, employs over 120 people and is one of Houlton’s largest employers.
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In 2021, Smith and Wesson relocated its Springfield, Massachusetts headquarters and a plant in Connecticut to Tennessee — a loss of 750 jobs in New England — over proposed gun control legislation.
According to NSSF, the firearms industry in Maine contributes close to $660 million annually to the state’s economy, employs more than 3,800 Mainers and pays over $43 million in state taxes.
“LD 1696 is trying to use the threat of crushing liability to make it nearly impossible for our industry to operate,” NSSF Managing Director of Government and State Affairs Jake McGuigan wrote.
Referencing PLCAA, McGuigan argued that firearm manufacturers and retailers “are not responsible for the subsequent criminal misuse or illegal possession of their lawfully sold, non-defective products by remote third parties — criminals — over whom they have no control.”
“Firearm industry members are not legally responsible for illegal shooting any more than a cookware manufacturer is responsible if a criminal misuses a sharp kitchen knife to stab someone,” McGuigan wrote.
McGuigan wrote the proposed bill “is tantamount to declaring drunk driving a public nuisance and then imposing liability on Ford for lawfully designing, [making] and selling a car later used by a drunk driver who causes an accident.”
“If enacted, businesses in the firearm industry will abandon the Maine market to avoid a tidal wave of vexatious ‘regulation through litigation’ the bill is intended to bring about,” the NSSF representative wrote.
“Maine residents will no longer be able to exercise their Second Amendment right to purchase firearms,” he wrote.
