Alan Gottlieb
By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
Four historically anti-gun Democrats have introduced legislation to repeal the 2005 “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act” (PLCAA), alleging that the law made gun companies “immune from lawsuits.”
Alan Gottlieb, executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, quickly asserted that the legislation is aimed at bankrupting the firearms industry through expensive lawsuits. He reportedly told GunsAmerica via e-mail that, “No one frivolously sues a car manufacturer because a drunk driver kills someone with a car.
“But anti-gun groups and gun prohibitionists have sued gun manufacturers and dealers because a criminal misused their product,” Gottlieb said. “They do it try to bankrupt the industry. Maybe we need a law to allow crime victims to sue democrats for passing laws that limit their means of self-defense.”
Backing the measure are Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Connecticut Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and California Rep. Adam Schiff, according to a press release from Van Hollen’s office. “The bill will ensure that victims of gun violence are allowed to have their day in court, and that the gun industry – manufacturers, sellers and interest groups – is not shielded from liability when it acts with negligence and disregard for public safety,” the release asserted.
But that’s not true, according to Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry umbrella group. During his annual “State of the Industry” speech at a dinner on opening night of the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show in Las Vegas, Sanetti said no such immunity exists for negligence or knowingly selling guns to prohibited persons.
“Some falsely claim that our industry is ‘totally immune from liability, unlike any other’,” Sanetti said at about nine minutes into his speech, which may be viewed here. “That’s just not true – firearms come under exactly the same product liability laws for defective products as any other consumer product. And as you know, if a retailer knowingly sells a firearm to anyone not legally qualified to buy it, they can lose their license, pay a stiff fine, and go to jail for up to 10 years. It’s the law.”
According to the JDSupra Business Advisor, “Despite the statements by some political candidates, the PLCAA provides protection for firearms industry members for only a limited category of lawsuits. No blanket immunity can be found in the PLCAA.”
PLCAA was passed more than ten years ago to prevent what critics called “harassment” and “junk” lawsuits, typically by anti-gun municipalities. A series of lawsuits, beginning in 1999, cost the industry millions of dollars to defend. Those lawsuits sought to hold gun makers responsible for criminal or negligent acts committed by people with firearms.
Whether the “Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act” stands a chance of passing is debatable, so long as Republicans control both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Larry Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel, also told GunsAmerica, “The PLCAA only bars frivolous lawsuits that seek to blame gun manufacturers and dealers for the criminal misuse of lawfully sold, non-defective products.
Keane said the law “exists because the Brady Center, greedy trial lawyers and big city mayors got together in the late 1990’s to circumvent Congress and impose gun control regulation through litigation through settlements or bankrupt the industry with massive judgment.”
He accused anti-gunners of lying about the statute in order to advance their political agenda against gun ownership.
“They want to repeal the PLCAA so they can launch a new wave of frivolous lawsuits with the same objective,” Keane told the news organ. “The gun control zealots badly underestimated the resolve of our industry then – and now – to stand and fight for truth and justice.”
