by Joe Biden. Criticism According to the Center for American Progress — an organization known for representing progressive viewpoints — the PLCAA prevents "victims of gun violence from pursuing well-established legal claims against irresponsible gun manufacturers and sellers—without presenting an alternative means for the victims to be compensated." Exceptions within the law that allow lawsuits to go forward fall under "negligent entrustment" and "predicate exception" actions, which target negligent retailers or manufacturers who violated local statutes applicable to the sale of firearms, but these cases are difficult to prove and rarely clear the PLCAA threshold in court. A 2007 report in the American Journal of Public Health states that the PLCAA is potentially dangerous to the public health because it removes both regulation and litigation as incentives for firearm companies to make their products safer. This viewpoint is contended by certain circles, including the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, which noted that the "PLCAA’s purpose was to curb efforts by gun‐control advocates to circumvent state legislatures and attack Second Amendment rights through a never‐ending series of lawsuits against manufacturers and retailers of firearms to hold them financially responsible for crimes committed using the weapons they make and sell." However, there is disagreement among lower Federal courts about whether or not the second amendment extends to firearm manufacturers and sellers. According to the Harvard Law Review, Additionally, in October of 2020 a subpoena was issued by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to seek evidence of fraudulent advertising by Smith & Wesson, thereby falling under violation of consumer protection and public safety laws. A lawsuit filed against the New Jersey AG office by Smith & Wesson was summarily rejected by the Federal Judge, saying that the gun manufacturer's constitutional rights were not at all violated. According to Professor Timothy Lytton of Georgia State University College of Law, "“We've seen that this kind of phenomenon of trying to regulate industry through litigation occurs, both through private efforts of individual plaintiffs victims who bring civil lawsuits on their own behalf, and once those lawsuits generally get off the ground, we often see public officials come into the picture.” See also Gun control Gun law in the United States Gun politics in the United States Notes References External links PLCAA text PLCAA house hearings Govtrack.us Status report on S 397 Acts of the 109th United States Congress Gun politics in the United States United