By KATHY McCORMACK, Related Press
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A brand new state legislation in New Hampshire that makes it more durable to take gunmaker Sig Sauer to courtroom is getting its first take a look at earlier than a decide on Monday.
The 2-month-old legislation was created by the Republican-led Legislature in response to mounting lawsuits confronted by the Newington-based producer over its standard P320 pistol. The lawsuits say that the gun can go off with out the set off being pulled, an allegation Sig Sauer denies.
Sig Sauer, which employs over 2,000 individuals in New Hampshire, stated the gun is protected and the issue is consumer error.
A number of massive, multi-plaintiff circumstances filed since 2022 in New Hampshire’s federal courtroom representing practically 80 individuals accuse Sig Sauer of faulty product design, advertising and marketing, and negligence, along with lawsuits filed in different states. Lots of the plaintiffs are present and former legislation enforcement officers who say they had been wounded by the gun.
They are saying the P320 design requires an exterior mechanical security, a function that’s non-compulsory. The newest New Hampshire case, representing 22 plaintiffs in 16 states, was filed in March. It’s the main target of Monday’s listening to.
The brand new legislation on product legal responsibility claims in opposition to Sig Sauer and different gun producers covers the “absence or presence” of the exterior security and several other different non-compulsory options. Claims can nonetheless be filed over manufacturing defects.
Attorneys for Sig Sauer argue it ought to apply to the March case, regardless that the legislation didn’t exist on the time.
“New Hampshire has a clearly articulated place in opposition to such claims being cognizable on this state,” they argue in courtroom paperwork for breaking apart the circumstances and transferring them to courtroom districts the place the plaintiffs dwell.
Legal professionals from a Philadelphia-based agency representing the plaintiffs, disagree, saying the legislation “has zero implication” on the case and solely applies to future lawsuits.
New Hampshire was the chosen location as a result of federal guidelines permit lawsuits in opposition to an organization in its residence state, the plaintiff’s attorneys say. These lawsuits have been assigned to at least one federal decide in Harmony. Sig Sauer is making an attempt to decentralize the case, they are saying.
Sig Sauer has prevailed in some circumstances. It has appealed two current multimillion-dollar verdicts in opposition to it, in Pennsylvania and Georgia. A decide lately allowed the Pennsylvania verdict to face, however vacated $10 million in punitive damages awarded to the plaintiff.
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