Indiana has pulled the plug on one of the last surviving city lawsuits against the gun industry, ending a case that started when dial‑up internet was still common and “shall issue” carry laws were the hot fight. A new state statute, paired with a decisive ruling from the Indiana Court of Appeals, has ordered Gary’s 1999 public‑nuisance suit against major gunmakers off the books. The move does more than close a file in Lake County, it signals how far lawmakers are willing to go to shield firearm companies from local pressure.
For hunters, shooters, and anyone who follows gun policy, the story is a window into the long war over who gets to call the shots on firearms regulation: city halls or statehouses. It is also a reminder that legal strategies born in the 1990s are running out of road in 2026.
How a 1999 lawsuit became a 26‑year grind
Back in 1999, the City of Gary tried something aggressive for the time, suing a slate of manufacturers and distributors, including Smith & Wesson, Colt and Beretta, over how their products were designed, marketed, and sold. The theory was not that a single defective gun caused a single injury, but that the industry’s overall business practices created a public nuisance in a city struggling with violent crime, so the companies should help pay to fix it. That approach put Gary in the same camp as other municipalities that were testing whether nuisance law could be used to reshape the gun market.
The case survived long enough that some of the original lawyers retired and judges rotated off the bench, yet the core claims stayed alive through multiple rounds of motions and appeals. A trial court at one point refused to dismiss the case, rejecting arguments from the companies, including Smith & Wesson, Colt and Beretta, that they were immune from this kind of liability, which kept the suit on track for discovery and potential trial even as most similar efforts around the country fizzled out, according to later descriptions of the trial court’s refusal to dismiss.
The Firearms Lawsuit Act changes the rules midstream
What finally stopped Gary’s case was not a jury verdict or a settlement, it was a new law passed in Indianapolis. In January 2024, Indiana lawmakers introduced what they called the Firearms Lawsuit Act, a statute that stripped cities and counties of the power to bring civil actions against firearm manufacturers, sellers, or trade groups. Under that law, only the state itself can file civil suits over the design, marketing, or sale of guns and ammunition, which effectively pulled the plug on any local attempt to haul the industry into court over broad public‑nuisance theories…