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Congress OKs Gun Industry Lawsuit Shield
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - 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.
--
Will Brink @ http://www.brinkzone.com/
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - 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.
--
Will Brink @ http://www.brinkzone.com/