Opinion ID: 852959
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Statutory Limits on the City's Ability to Regulate Firearms

Text: The trial court found Indiana statutes limiting the powers of municipal corporations to bar the City from bringing this lawsuit. First, we do not agree that the filing of this lawsuit violates Indiana Code section 35-47-11-2, which prevents the regulation of firearms by cities. This lawsuit does not seek to implement a regulatory scheme. It seeks redress under existing state law of nuisance and negligence. The manufacturer-defendants contend that judicially fashioned tort remedies may be viewed as a form of regulation. For this proposition they cite cases finding that judicial action may constitute regulation for purposes of determining whether a state law of statutory or judiciary origins impermissibly interferes with interstate commerce. See, e.g., BMW of N. Am., Inc., 517 U.S. at 573 n. 17, 116 S.Ct. 1589; San Diego Bldg. Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 246-47, 79 S.Ct. 773, 3 L.Ed.2d 775 (1959); Penelas v. Arms Tech., Inc., 778 So.2d 1042, 1045 (Fla.Dist. Ct.App.2001). We do not believe this doctrine grounded in federal-state relationships is applicable to interpretation of the state municipal law statute the defendants cite. The same contention of judicial regulation could be leveled at any nuisance claim, and, as noted elsewhere, Indiana statutes expressly authorize the City to seek relief against public nuisances. In sum, the City seeks redress against certain techniques that are alleged to generate a nuisance. Its lawsuit is no more regulation of firearms than a suit to enjoin any form of nuisance is a regulation of the activity. Unless this form of regulation runs afoul of the Commerce Clause, which it does not, it is a well-established form of permissible relief under state law.