Bill Passed to Protect Gun Makers

Congress has voted to revoke gun-crime victims’ right to sue firearms manufacturers and dealers for damages in court.  This law was passed July 2005 in the Senate by a vote of 65-31.  It passed this week in the House by a 283 to 144 vote.  President Bush says that he looks forward to signing this bill into law.  The passage of this bill has been the National Rifle Association’s number one priority this year.  Critics claim the passage of this gun law reveals the gun lobby’s power over the legislature.

Proponents of this bill go as far as saying Congress “saved the gun industry from bankruptcy” in this bold step to protect the Second Amendment.  Supporters of gun rights, including our president and the gun industry, claim that big jury awards in gun-crime victim’s cases could push gun manufacture into bankruptcy.  “Our laws should punish criminals who use guns to commit crimes, not law-abiding manufacturers of lawful weapons” says Mr. Bush. 

A number of lawsuits against gun manufacturers will be dismissed in cities throughout the nation when the president signs this bill into law.  Some pending lawsuits filed on behalf of families whose loved ones have died to gun-related crime will also be dismissed.  For Oakland, California attorney, John Russo, this gun law is a get-out-of-liability-free card for gun manufacturers.  The director of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Dennis Henigan, says this gun law is an atrocious example of special-interest legislation. 

Bill advocates say that the law only works to protect law-abiding gun manufacturers.  It will still allow for lawsuits against wrongful gun importers, manufacturers, and dealers.  Gun dealers would continue to be subject to strict liability, negligence, and breech of contract claims.  Republican Congressman, James Sensenbrenner says opponents of the bill are trying to “accomplish through litigation what has not been achieved by legislation and the democratic process.”   Though judgments passed down in a court of law are, arguably, accomplished through the democratic process. 

Regardless of the political disagreement about this gun law, it has been passed into legislation.  Once President Bush has signed the bill, gun manufacturers will no longer be culpable for the injuries and losses their products cause to gun crime victims and their families.