[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1233 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H.R. 1233

To regulate interstate commerce by providing a Federal cause of action 
  against firearms manufacturers, dealers, and importers for the harm 
                      resulting from gun violence.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 1999

 Mrs. Lowey (for herself and Mrs. McCarthy of New York) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To regulate interstate commerce by providing a Federal cause of action 
  against firearms manufacturers, dealers, and importers for the harm 
                      resulting from gun violence.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Firearms Rights, Responsibilities, 
and Remedies Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the manufacture, distribution, and importation of 
        firearms is inherently commercial in nature;
            (2) firearms regularly move in interstate commerce;
            (3) firearms trafficking is so prevalent and widespread in 
        and among the States that it is usually impossible to 
        distinguish between intrastate trafficking and interstate 
        trafficking;
            (4) to the extent firearms trafficking is intrastate in 
        nature, it arises out of and is substantially connected with a 
        commercial transaction, which, when viewed in the aggregate, 
        substantially affects interstate commerce;
            (5) gun violence results in great costs to society, 
        including the costs of law enforcement, medical care, lost 
        productivity, and loss of life;
            (6) to the extent possible, the costs of gun violence 
        should be borne by those liable for them, including 
        manufacturers, dealers, and importers;
            (7) in any action to recover the costs associated with gun 
        violence to a particular entity or to a given community, it is 
        usually impossible to trace the portion of costs attributable 
        to intrastate versus interstate commerce;
            (8) the law governing the liability of manufacturers, 
        dealers, and importers for gun violence is evolving 
        inconsistently within and among the States, resulting in a 
        contradictory and uncertain regime that is inequitable and that 
        unduly burdens interstate commerce;
            (9) the inability to obtain adequate compensation for the 
        costs of gun violence results in a serious commercial 
        distortion to a single national market and a stable national 
        economy, thereby creating a barrier to interstate commerce;
            (10) it is an essential and appropriate role of the Federal 
        Government, under the Constitution of the United States, to 
        remove burdens and barriers to interstate commerce;
            (11) because the intrastate and interstate trafficking of 
        firearms are so commingled, full regulation of interstate 
        commerce requires the incidental regulation of intrastate 
        commerce; and
            (12) it is in the national interest and within the role of 
        the Federal Government to ensure that manufacturers, dealers, 
        and importers can be held liable under Federal law for gun 
        violence.
    (b) Purpose.--Based on the power of Congress in clause 3 of section 
8 of article I of the Constitution of the United States, the purpose of 
this Act is to regulate interstate commerce by--
            (1) regulating the commercial activity of firearms 
        trafficking;
            (2) protecting States, units of local government, 
        organizations, businesses, and other persons from the adverse 
        effects of interstate commerce in firearms;
            (3) establishing a uniform legal principle that 
        manufacturers, dealers, and importers can be held liable for 
        gun violence; and
            (4) creating greater fairness, rationality, and 
        predictability in the civil justice system.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Gun violence.--The term ``gun violence'' means any--
                    (A) actual or threatened unlawful use of a firearm; 
                and
                    (B) unintentional discharge of a firearm.
            (2) Incorporated definitions.--The terms ``firearm'', 
        ``importer'', ``manufacturer'', and ``dealer'' have the 
        meanings given those terms in section 921 of title 18, United 
        States Code.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
        Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
            (4) Unit of local government.--The term ``unit of local 
        government'' means any city, town, township, county, parish, 
        village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a 
        State.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal, 
State, or local law, a State, unit of local government, organization, 
business, or other person that has been injured by or incurred costs as 
a result of gun violence may bring a civil action in a Federal or State 
court of original jurisdiction against a manufacturer, dealer, or 
importer who knew or reasonably should have known that its design, 
manufacturing, marketing, importation, sales, or distribution practices 
would likely result in gun violence.
    (b) Remedies.--In an action under subsection (a), the court may 
award appropriate relief, including--
            (1) actual damages;
            (2) punitive damages;
            (3) reasonable attorneys' fees and other litigation costs 
        reasonably incurred, including the costs of expert witnesses; 
        and
            (4) such other relief as the court determines to be 
        appropriate.
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