Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove signed a bill Tuesday that places caps on product-liability damages. In November, state lawmakers passed the legislation, which emerged from an 83-day special session, allowing punitive damages to be capped at $20 million for the largest corporations. Businesses with a valuation of less than $50 million will also not be forced to pay more than four percent of their net worth in punitive damages.

Under other provisions of the new law, defendants found to be less than 30 percent at fault will only be responsible for non-economic damages equal to their portion of the blame. Defendants found more than 30 percent responsible will be forced to pay no more than 50 percent of non-economic damages. Multiple lawsuits by cities and counties against gun manufacturers will be limited under the new provisions and out-of-state plaintiffs will be discouraged from joining lawsuits. The bill takes effect on January 1.