New York Sues Mean Arms Over Their AR 15 Magazine Lock
Last week, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued firearm accessory manufacturer Mean Arms. The justification for the lawsuit is hard to understand. However, it makes perfect sense if the goal is to harass small businesses by making them spend money on legal defense fees.
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NY vs. Mean Arms—
This lawsuit comes almost exactly one year after a deranged man used a rifle to kill 10 people in a Buffalo, NY Tops store. The firearm used in that horrific shooting was a New York compliant AR-15. One attribute a NY legal AR-15 must have is a fixed magazine; and, of course, any magazine that holds over 10 rounds is a no-no in the Empire State.
A standard AR-15 doesn't have fixed magazines, so the rifle must be modified to be legal in NY. The Buffalo killer's purchased his rifle, which was already equipped with such a magazine lock device. A company called Mean Arms produced the specific device used in the killer's rifle. The device called the MA Lock permanently fixes the magazine in place.
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Well, how permanent seems to be the question. See, the killer used a drill to drill out the MA Lock device, allowing the killer to use “high capacity” magazines over 10 rounds. Now here is where the NY AG's reasoning becomes difficult to follow.
The Attorney General claims that Mean Arms
…deceptively and falsely advertises that installing an MA Lock on a weapon makes it legal in New York, thereby aiding and abetting the illegal possession of assault weapons in New York.
In fact, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that the company provides step-by-step instructions on the back of its product packaging on how to easily remove the lock. The back of the packaging of the MA Lock states:
Removal Instructions:
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Make sure the firearm chamber is CLEAR, UNLOADED and POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION!
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Use any brand of screw extractor from your local hardware store (some brands may work better than others. We prefer a #2 Speed out).
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To remove the threaded portion of the shear nut left in the MA LOCK sleeve, place the screw extractor into the center of the threaded portion of the shear nut and remove counterclockwise (Please refer to the screw extractor’s instructions for best use).
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Now you may remove the MA LOCK SLEEVE.
Some Thought on The Case—
A couple of thoughts come to mind when I try to understand the reasoning of the NY AG. First, the killer shows that once again, criminals don't obey the law. It's illegal in NY to possess magazine with more than a 10 round capacity, this didn't stop the killer. It's illegal in NY to possess an AR-15 that doesn't have a fixed magazine. This didn't stop the killer from modifying his rifle. It's also illegal in NY to kill innocent people. Another law which didn't seem to dissuade the maniac.
Second, if someone needs to use a drill to remove the MA Lock, and in doing so, destroy the device permanently, how is the company “aiding the illegal possession of assault weapons in New York”? I presume the reasoning is that the company tells the consumer how to remove the device.
But it's important to note that next to the removal instructions are steps on how to install the device. Because once the customer installs the device, it is essentially a permanent modification; it also makes sense to explain how to remove it should the person move to a state that doesn't have such ridiculous modification requirements. There are absolutely legal reason one might want to remove the MA LOCK. The fact the company provides instructions on how to do it doesn't mean the device doesn't work as designed, nor that they are advocating removing it to circumvent any state's law.
In a fair justice system, an AG would never bring a case like this against a company. Absent some public statements making claims to the contrary, I think the AG will have a hard time proving that Mean Arms' purpose for providing removal instructions was to conspire with NY residents and help them violate the law. Especially when they are selling a product that designed to modify a rifle to comply with the law. However, in corrupt NY, anything is possible.
Let's see where this lawsuit goes. The case is PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, by LETITIA JAMES, Attorney General of New York, V MEAN LLC d/b/a Mean Arms.
James doesn’t give a damn about right/wrong or common sense! It’s all about her quest for power and fame to build a run for governor! And that as we have seen from all the black democrats in office in any position is the worst possible tragedy to inflict on any city, state or federal government! They always lead to death, skyrocketing crime, poverty, rioting, more racial divide, and exodus of citizens! And that was written in stone and came down off the mount!
If someone was going to violate the law by removing a MA Lock – why would they buy one and install it in the first place? Then you wouldn’t need directions or a drill or screw extractor!
So if I buy a new vehicle, and modify the engine to convert it to a race car and I get caught speeding it’s the manufacturer’s fault?
That’s Liberal logic for you. Blame the innocent, not the guilty. Glad I don’t live in that cesspool.
Simply this/- This isn’t an attack on one individual- it’s an attack on everyone who wants to buy a AR15 including but not limited to the Gun Industry and The AR collectors Nationally…That is how the criminals work.
This is how NY will ultimately ban the AR15 in the state. They saw these MA locks and MA loaders were gaining popularity, and were also quick to reload with if used in combination. NY has been mad about the fact that the SAFE act did nearly nothing to prevent crime or citizens from owning an AR15. The only thing it really did, was, ingenuity. More and more companies started coming up with ways to follow the law. Not circumvent it. NY is pissed that they didn’t get a law passed that actually banned anything. So, now that the law was passed allowing suits against manufacturers, this is what we got going on now. Mean Arms will no longer ship these locking devices to NY, even though they do meet the law requirement. NYSP was pushed on this issue for legality, as they are a permanent modification, considering they need a drill to remove. NYSP even define permanence as needing tools to remove a device. I honestly hope that NY loses this case and sets a precedence for more of these types of devises. But, the corruption runs deep in NY, and they will try to bury Mean Arms for defying them, even though all they did was comply with the laws as written. Thinking outside of the box in NY is a crime, evidently. James needs to be hit by a car, as do most of the politicians holding their thumbs over the citizens like slaves. Our forefathers wrote rules for dealing with tyrants. Something about watering a tree. Seems we’re well overdue taking care of the filth in our society.
This is laughable. With enough know-how and tools you can remove anything. Sharpen a chopstick and stab someone is it the chopsticks fault? No. It’s the person who altered the product.
And ofcourse it’s going to tell you how to remove it. ALL pin kits can be removed, regardless of install by gunsmith or diy. Not everyone is going to live under the NYStapo forever.. When you get to normal states you can remove it.
The design, by every law and regulation, meets SAFE act requirements when a magazine is locked in place. The magazine is no longer removable, therefor another magazine cannot be installed in place without tools and disassembly. This is a showboat lawsuit designed to fail so they can get more people on board because the state was oh so powerless to stop crime without a heavy boot.