[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2270 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2270

To prohibit civil or equitable actions from being brought or continued 
against manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms 
 or ammunition for damages resulting from the misuse of their products 
 by others, to protect gun owner privacy and ownership rights, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 22, 2000

  Mr. Hatch (for himself, Mr. Craig, and Mr. Smith of New Hampshire) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit civil or equitable actions from being brought or continued 
against manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms 
 or ammunition for damages resulting from the misuse of their products 
 by others, to protect gun owner privacy and ownership rights, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Right to Bear Arms Protection and 
Privacy Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Citizens have a right, under the Second Amendment to 
        the United States Constitution, to keep and bear arms.
            (2) Lawsuits have been commenced against manufacturers, 
        distributors, dealers, and importers of nondefective firearms, 
        which seek money damages and other relief for the harm caused 
        by the misuse of firearms by third parties, including 
        criminals.
            (3) The manufacture, importation, possession, sale, and use 
        of firearms and ammunition in the United States is heavily 
        regulated by Federal, State, and local laws. Such Federal laws 
        include the Gun Control Act of 1968, the National Firearms Act, 
        and the Arms Export Control Act.
            (4) Businesses in the United States that are engaged in 
        interstate and foreign commerce through the lawful design, 
        marketing, distribution, manufacture, importation, or sale to 
        the public of firearms or ammunition that have been shipped or 
        transported in interstate or foreign commerce are not, and 
        should not be, liable or otherwise legally responsible for the 
        harm caused by those who criminally or unlawfully misuse 
        firearm products or ammunition products.
            (5) The possibility of imposing liability or other legal 
        restrictions on an entire industry as a result of harm that is 
        the sole responsibility of others is an abuse of the legal 
        system, erodes public confidence in our Nation's laws, 
        threatens the diminution of a basic constitutional right, 
        invites the disassembly and destabilization of other industries 
        and economic sectors lawfully competing in America's free 
        enterprise system, and constitutes an unreasonable burden on 
        interstate and foreign commerce.
            (6) The liability and equitable actions commenced or 
        contemplated by municipalities, cities, and other entities are 
        based on theories without foundation in hundreds of years of 
        the common law and American jurisprudence. The possible 
        sustaining of these actions by a maverick judicial officer 
        would expand civil liability in a manner never contemplated by 
        the Framers of the Constitution. The Congress further finds 
        that such an expansion of liability would constitute a 
        deprivation of the rights, privileges, and immunities 
        guaranteed to a citizen of the United States under the 
        Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To prohibit causes of action against law-abiding 
        manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and importers of firearms 
        or ammunition products for the harm caused by the criminal or 
        unlawful misuse of firearm products or ammunition products by 
        others.
            (2) To preserve a citizen's constitutional access to a 
        supply of firearms and ammunition for all lawful purposes, 
        including hunting, self-defense, collecting, and competitive or 
        recreational shooting.
            (3) To protect a citizen's right to privacy concerning the 
        lawful purchase and ownership of firearms.
            (4) To guarantee a citizen's rights, privileges, and 
        immunities, as applied to the States, under the Fourteenth 
        Amendment to the United States Constitution, pursuant to 
        section five of that Amendment.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON BRINGING OF QUALIFIED CIVIL ACTIONS IN FEDERAL 
              OR STATE COURT.

    (a) In General.--A qualified civil action may not be brought in any 
Federal or State court.
    (b) Dismissal of Pending Actions.--A qualified civil action that is 
pending on the date of the enactment of this Act shall be dismissed 
immediately by the court in which the action was brought.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Manufacturer.--The term ``manufacturer'' means, with 
        respect to a qualified product--
                    (A) a person who is lawfully engaged in a business 
                to import, make, produce, create, or assemble a 
                qualified product, and who designs or formulates, or 
                has engaged another person to design or formulate, a 
                qualified product;
                    (B) a lawful seller of a qualified product, but 
                only with respect to an aspect of the product that is 
                made or affected when the seller makes, produces, 
                creates, or assembles and designs or formulates an 
                aspect of the product made by another person; and
                    (C) any lawful seller of a qualified product who 
                represents to a user of a qualified product that the 
                seller is a manufacturer of the qualified product.
            (2) Person.--The term ``person'' means any individual, 
        corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, 
        joint stock company, or any other entity, including any 
        governmental entity.
            (3) Qualified product.--The term ``qualified product'' 
        means a firearm (as defined in section 921(a)(3) of title 18, 
        United States Code) or ammunition (as defined in section 
        921(a)(17) of such title), or a component part of a firearm or 
        ammunition, that has been shipped or transported in interstate 
        or foreign commerce.
            (4) Qualified civil action.--The term ``qualified civil 
        action'' means a civil or equitable action brought by any 
        person against a lawful manufacturer or lawful seller of a 
        qualified product, or a trade association, for damages or other 
        relief as a result of the criminal or unlawful misuse of a 
        qualified product by the person or a third party, but shall not 
        include an action brought against a manufacturer, seller, or 
        transferor who knowingly manufactures, sells, or transfers a 
        qualified product with knowledge that such product will be used 
        to commit a crime under Federal or State law.
            (5) Seller.--The term ``seller'' means, with respect to a 
        qualified product, a person who--
                    (A) in the course of a lawful business conducted 
                for that purpose, lawfully sells, distributes, rents, 
                leases, prepares, blends, packages, labels, or 
                otherwise is involved in placing a qualified product in 
                the stream of commerce; or
                    (B) lawfully installs, repairs, refurbishes, 
                reconditions, or maintains an aspect of a qualified 
                product that is alleged to have resulted in damages.
            (6) State.--The term ``State'' includes 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, 
        and any other territory or possession of the United States, and 
        any political subdivision of any such place.
            (7) Trade association.--The term ``trade association'' 
        means any association or business organization (whether or not 
        incorporated under Federal or State law) 2 or more members of 
        which are manufacturers or sellers of a qualified product.

SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF BACKGROUND CHECK FEE; GUN OWNER PRIVACY.

    (a) Prohibition of Background Check Fee.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 33 of title 28, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 540C. Prohibition of fee for background check in connection with 
              firearm transfer
    ``No officer, employee, or agent of the United States, including a 
State or local officer or employee acting on behalf of the United 
States, may charge or collect any fee in connection with any background 
check required in connection with the transfer of a firearm (as defined 
in section 921(a) of title 18).''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--The analysis for chapter 33 of 
        title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 
        item relating to section 540B the following:

``540C. Prohibition of fee for background check in connection with 
                            firearm transfer.''.
    (b) Protection of Gun Owner Privacy and Ownership Rights.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 44 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 931. Gun owner privacy and ownership rights
    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no 
department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States or officer, 
employee, or agent of the United States, including a State or local 
officer or employee acting on behalf of the United States--
            ``(1) shall perform any criminal background check through 
        the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (referred 
        to in this section as the `system') on any person if the system 
        does not require and result in the immediate destruction of all 
        information, in any form whatsoever or through any medium, 
        about any such person that is determined, through the use of 
        the system, not to be prohibited by subsection (g) or (n) of 
        section 922, or by State law, from receiving a firearm; or
            ``(2) shall continue to operate the system (including 
        requiring a background check before the transfer of a firearm) 
        unless--
                    ``(A) the NICS Index complies with the requirements 
                of section 552a(e)(5) of title 5, United States Code; 
                and
                    ``(B) the agency responsible for the system and the 
                system's compliance with Federal law does not invoke 
                the exceptions under subsection (j)(2) or paragraph (2) 
                or (3) of subsection (k) of section 552a of title 5, 
                United States Code, except if specifically identifiable 
                information is compiled for a particular law 
                enforcement investigation or specific criminal 
                enforcement matter.
    ``(b) Applicability.--Subsection (a)(1) does not apply to the 
retention or transfer of information relating to--
            ``(1) any unique identification number provided by the 
        National Instant Criminal Background Check System under section 
        922(t)(1)(B)(i); or
            ``(2) the date on which that number is provided.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--The analysis for chapter 44 of 
        title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
        the following:

``931. Gun owner privacy and ownership rights.''.
    (c) Civil Remedies.--Any person aggrieved by a violation of section 
540C of title 28 or 931 of title 18, United States Code (as added by 
this section), may bring an action in the United States district court 
for the district in which the person resides for actual damages, 
punitive damages, and such other relief as the court determines to be 
appropriate, including a reasonable attorney's fee.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section take 
effect on the date of enactment of this Act except that the amendments 
made by subsection (a) shall take effect as of November 30, 1998.
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