Press Releases
03/12/2025
Attorney General Tong Backs Legislation to Increase Accountability for Gun Industry Bad Actors
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today submitted testimony backing legislation proposed by his office to enable the state, municipalities and private citizens to sue bad actors in the gun industry who fail to take reasonable, commonsense measures to protect us from gun violence.
“The Office of the Attorney General stands ready to enforce this law to go after improper practices within the firearm industry that threaten the lives and safety of Connecticut residents. Connecticut has long been a national leader for gun safety, and, in honor of our painful history, we should stand up again to hold the firearm industry responsible for their actions. By passing this bill Connecticut will continue to lead and to keep its citizens safe,” Attorney General Tong states in the testimony.
"For too long, the firearm industry has operated with near-total immunity, profiting while communities suffer the devastating consequences of gun violence. This legislation will be a preventative deterrent to save lives so that lawsuits are not a necessary course of action. In the same token, Connecticut is taking the necessary steps to ensure that firearm manufacturers and dealers who engage in reckless and unlawful practices are held accountable—just like any other industry. Connecticut has led the nation in common-sense gun laws, and with this bill, we will make it clear: if you put profits over public safety, you will face justice,” said Earl Bloodworth, Executive Director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence.
“This is commonsense legislation that bolsters accountability for firearm manufacturers,” said State Representative Steve Stafstrom (D-Bridgeport), Co-Chair of the Judiciary Committee. “We must continue to keep our communities safe and help prevent tragic incidents in the future by holding our nation’s firearm manufacturers responsible when they act in bad faith. I’m proud to be a leader on this essential bill and I look forward to advocating for it through the legislative process.”
The legislation would permit the Office of the Attorney General to bring civil enforcement actions against gun manufacturers, distributors, marketers and retailers who fail to implement reasonable controls to prevent the sale of firearms to straw purchasers, firearm traffickers, individuals prohibited from possessing firearms under state or federal law or individuals the firearm industry member has reasonable cause to believe intend to use it for a crime or to cause harm to themselves or others. The bill also permits private citizens, or corporation counsels on behalf of municipalities, the right to bring suits for loss or injury as a result of a failure to implement those reasonable controls.
This bill would not impact responsible gun owners or responsible industry professionals.
Attorney General Tong is part of a coalition of 16 attorneys general formed in 2024 to hold irresponsible firearms industry members accountable for their devastating impact on gun violence. This multistate coalition, the first of its kind, aims to reduce gun violence through the coordinated enforcement of state civil liability and consumer protection laws, among other authority, to promote public safety and saving lives.
The legislation is modeled after similar measures in coalition states, including California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Washington. Legal challenges to these laws have been uniformly upheld to date. In December 2024, both New Jersey and Minnesota sued Glock under their accountability statute for knowingly selling and manufacturing handguns that can be easily converted into machine guns.
The gun industry has enjoyed enormous exemptions from liability and accountability in court since the passage of the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which provides firearm industry defendants with broad immunity from many common law tort actions. Congress carved out six exceptions to this immunity, pursuant to which firearms sellers may be held liable for third-party crimes committed with their products. This includes civil actions alleging that a manufacturer or seller of a firearm knowingly violated a state or federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing of the firearm, and the violation was a proximate cause of the harm for which relief is sought.
Here in Connecticut, the families of the victims of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School opened the door to holding the industry accountable for gun violence by suing Bushmaster for improper marketing and advertising of its firearms under PLCAA’s predicate exception.
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Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
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