Great news from Utah: Governor Spencer Cox just signed House Bill 214 into law, and this one actually helps us instead of restricting us.
HB 214 protects firearm and accessory businesses from the kind of junk lawsuits that anti-gun activists love to throw at us. You know the game — they can't get their laws passed through legitimate channels, so they try to bury us in litigation instead. That's called "lawfare," and Utah just told them to buzz off.
The new law blocks lawsuits from foreign nationals and political subdivisions targeting manufacturers, sellers, and trade organizations. It also plugs a loophole in the federal PLCAA by specifically addressing something called the "predicate exception." More importantly, it extends these protections to accessories — suppressors, optics, the whole lot. That's huge, because our customers depend on these products working exactly as designed.
Here's what makes this even better: Utah's now the first state to adopt the NSSF's model liability reform language. That means this could spread to other states, giving the whole industry better protection against activists trying to force gun control through the courtroom when they can't win at the ballot box.
Bottom line: lawful businesses shouldn't pay for what criminals do with their products. Utah gets it. The rest of us need to watch and push for similar protections everywhere.