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Congress OKs Gun Industry Lawsuit Shield
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press WriterThu Oct 20, 7:08 PM ET

Congress gave the gun lobby its top legislative priority Thursday, passing a
bill protecting the firearms industry from massive crime-victim lawsuits.

President Bush said he will sign it.

"Our laws should punish criminals who use guns to commit crimes, not law-abiding
manufacturers of lawful products," Bush said in a statement.

The House voted 283-144 to send the bill to the president after supporters, led
by the National Rifle Association, proclaimed it vital to protect the industry
from being bankrupted by huge jury awards. Opponents, waging a tough battle
against growing public support for the legislation, called it proof of the gun
lobby's power over the Republican-controlled Congress.

"This legislation will make the unregulated gun industry the most pampered
industry in America," said Kristen Rand, director of the Violence Policy Center.
Under the measure, a half-dozen pending lawsuits by local governments against
the industry would be dismissed. Anti-gun groups say some lawsuits filed by
individuals could be thrown out, too.

The Senate passed the bill in July.

The bill's passage was the NRA's top legislative priority and would give Bush
and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill a rare victory at a time when some top
GOP leaders are under indictment or investigation.

"Lawsuits seeking to hold the firearms industry responsible for the criminal and
unlawful use of its products are brazen attempts to accomplish through
litigation what has not been achieved by legislation and the democratic
process," House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., told
his colleagues.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, did not vote. He is in Texas in
connection with his indictment in an alleged scheme to violate state election
law.

Propelled by GOP election gains and the incidents of lawlessness associated with
the passing of Hurricane Katrina, support for the bill has grown since a similar
measure passed the House last year and was killed in the Senate.

Horrific images of people without the protection of public safety in New Orleans
made a particular impression on viewers who had never before felt unsafe,
according to the gun lobby.

"Americans saw a complete collapse of the government's ability to protect them,"
said Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president.

"That burnt in, those pictures of people standing there defending their lives
and defending their property and their family," he added, "where the one source
of comfort was a firearm."

With support from four new Republicans this session of Congress, the bill passed
the Senate for the first time in July. House passage never was in doubt because
it had 257 co-sponsors, far more than the 218 needed to pass.

The bill's authors say it still would allow civil suits against individual
parties who have been found guilty of criminal wrongdoing by the courts.
Opponents say the strength of the bill's support is testament to the influence
of the gun lobby. If the bill had been law when the relatives of six victims of
convicted Washington-area snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo sued
the gun dealer from which they obtained their rifle, the dealer would not have
agreed to pay the families and victims $2.5 million.

"It is shameful that Republicans in Congress are pushing legislation that
guarantees their gun-dealing cronies receive special treatment and are above the
law," said Rep. Robert Wexler (news, bio, voting record), D-Fla.

Bush has said he supports the bill, which would prohibit lawsuits against the
firearms industry for damages resulting from the unlawful use of a firearm or
ammunition. Gun makers and dealers still would be subject to product liability,
negligence or breach of contract suits, the bill's authors say.

Democrats and Republicans alike court the NRA at election time, and the bill has
garnered bipartisan support. But the firearms industry still gave 88 percent of
its campaign contributions, or $1.2 million, to Republicans in the 2004 election
cycle.

Gun control advocates, meanwhile, gave 98 percent of their contributions, or
$93,700, to Democrats that cycle, according to the Center for Responsive
Politics.
___
The bill is S. 397.
___
On the Net:
Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051020/...ngress_guns_16


"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner