Earlier gun control proposals targeted law-abiding citizens, now a new proposal from Democrats in Congress is targeting the firearms industry as a whole.
The Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act has been put forward in both chambers. In the House by Rep. Adam Schiff, and in the Senate by Sen. Richard Blumenthal. The bill aims to strip the firearms industry of its protections from frivolous lawsuits.
Many have come out to oppose this legislation already as it could destroy the firearms industry which would make it very hard for Americans to buy new firearms.
From Guns.com:
We spoke with Mark Oliva, public affairs director of the trade group for the firearms industry, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, about the effort to scrap the industry’s protections.
“This legislation is an attempt by gun control Democrats to again circumvent the authority of Congress and pursue legislation through litigation,” said Oliva. “Senator Blumenthal and Congressman Schiff know that they cannot pass gun control through the legislative process, so they are attempting to decimate the firearm industry through harassing and baseless lawsuits that would financially bleed these companies. Nothing in their gun control proposals attempts to hold criminals accountable for their actions. That tells you who these elected officials are truly representing when they protect criminals and harass a Constitutionally-protected industry for political gain.”
The NSSF has long been working to dispel myths against what the PLCAA does and does not. The law, when adopted 16 years ago, blocked a rolling series of baseless lawsuits orchestrated by the Clinton-era White House and filed by gun control groups that attempted to hold industry companies liable for the criminal acts of third parties. Importantly, at least 33 states had already passed similar laws before the PLCAA was enacted at the federal level.
“The PLCAA keeps activist lawyers from placing the blame on manufacturers and retailers for the criminal misuse of legal, non-defective firearms that are lawfully sold,” said Oliva.
Proponents of this legislation have repeatedly claimed that gun manufacturers can not be sued, this is not the case and even publications like CNN and the Washington Post have had to issue fact checks to lawmakers who have made these claims. While the firearms industry is protected from frivolous lawsuits, the industry is not protected from issues revolving around legitimate liability. Remington was subject to several lawsuits over its Walker trigger design that repeatedly misfired and injured several people.
