| Congress Considers New Law to Protect Lawful Commerce
Nation’s Manufacturers, Labor Support Firearms Industry in Effort to Prevent Unjust Lawsuits Intended to Ruin Responsible Businesses
NEWTOWN, Conn. — Legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would prevent further abuse of our nation’s courts when frivolous lawsuits against law-abiding businesses seek to blame them for the criminal misuse of legally sold firearms.
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) introduced the bill, HR 800, with strong bipartisan backing from 92 co-sponsors. A Senate bill will be introduced shortly. Titled “The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,” it enjoys support from business groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Association of Wholesalers, as well as organized labor whose members’ jobs are endangered by such reckless lawsuits that are brought against their employers with the intention of bankrupting them.
“Lawful and responsible members of the business community must be protected from this destructive effort. These lawsuits are meant to eliminate a segment of the manufacturing industry and the jobs of tens of thousands it employs, by forcing an enormous economic burden on innocent people forced to defend their good names against unwarranted accusations,” observed Doug Painter, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms industry.
“These businesses not only provide materials our men and women in uniform need to win the war against terrorism,” Painter notes, “but also the goods that 40 million Americans use to enjoy recreational shooting and hunting with firearms. These shooting-related activities contribute approximately three billion dollars in activity each year to the nation’s economy.”
The National Association of Manufacturers, representing 14,000 members with 18 million employees making all manner of products in America, sees the issue this way: "Today it’s handguns, but tomorrow it could be power tools, golf clubs or automobiles. Manufacturers of perfectly lawful, properly designed and well-functioning products can’t rationally be held liable for third-party actions that may result in harm to another."
More than thirty states already have passed similar legislation to prevent unwarranted lawsuits attempting to blame responsible businesses and their employees for the acts of criminals. Federal legislation would prevent new suits from being filed or existing cases from proceeding when a judge determines that the defendants are not connected to the wrongdoing of criminals, and their product was not defectively designed or made.
“This legislation would not stop legitimate lawsuits by someone who is injured by a defective product or against any business that knowingly breaks the law. Those kinds of actions are well-established and protected under our statutes and legal traditions. This new law is needed to stop predatory lawsuits that are intended to bankrupt an entire industry by turning upside-down centuries of legal tradition and jurisprudence in America that provides protection in our courts for the innocent,” explains Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel of NSSF.
Beginning in 1998, some three-dozen lawsuits were brought by municipalities and firearm prohibitionists to blame federally licensed firearm makers and sellers for the criminal misuse of products lawfully made and sold. “Our industry has been forced to spend more than $200 million dollars defending against these outrageous and patently false allegations, with no end in sight,” said Keane.
NSSF itself, established in 1961 by the firearms industry to promote safety and the responsible use of its products, has been named a defendant in many of the lawsuits. NSSF created and funded a program called Project ChildSafe (www.projectshildsafe.org) to distribute nationwide more than 20 million firearm safety kits and gun locks. At the request of the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, NSSF created a program to assist law enforcement in its mission to prevent and prosecute criminal purchases of guns, called Don’t Lie for the Other Guy (www.dontlie.org) and through these programs the firearms industry group is a partner in the federal government’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (www.psn.gov) program to prevent crime.
“Everyone who works in manufacturing or sells manufactured goods should encourage their representatives in Congress to support this common-sense measure,” adds NSSF’s president, Doug Painter, “because it’s simply wrong and unjust to blame the manufacturer or retailer of a perfectly legal and properly functioning product when someone purposely misuses it. No one would seriously consider suing the manufacturer of matches when an arsonist starts a fire with one, so manufacturers in our industry cannot be held accountable for behavior we do not condone, criminal and irresponsible acts involving our products.”
Learn more about NSSF’s safety programs and the promotion of the safe and responsible use of its members’ products by visiting the Foundation’s web site at http://www.nssf.org.
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