[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 109 (Thursday, July 29, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S9879]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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               THE LAWSUITS AGAINST THE FIREARM INDUSTRY

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, there is no way to measure the costs 
of gun crime in our society. There are estimates that put the price at 
$75 billion for one year of pain, suffering, and loss of quality of 
life caused by gun violence, but there is no real way to determine the 
incalculable human cost of gun-related crime. There is, however, a 
method to measure other financial costs associated with firearm crime. 
For instance, the estimated cost of health care for firearms related 
injuries in the United States was $4 billion in 1995. The average per-
person cost of a firearm fatality is $373,000 per death, higher than 
any injury-related death. And, on average, it costs more than $14,000 
to treat each child wounded by a firearm.
  Cities spend millions each year on these costs and others associated 
with gun related emergencies. The expenses incurred by cities include 
medical treatment for victims, additional police protection, and 
counseling services for survivors of murder victims. These additional 
costs are the basis of the class-action lawsuits against the firearm 
manufacturers, distributors and dealers. Nearly two dozen local 
governments, including Wayne County and Detroit, have filed suit 
against the manufacturers and distributors of firearms to recoup the 
costs of firearm related crime. And following their lead, the NAACP 
filed a lawsuit that does not seek monetary damages, but instead, seeks 
to put an end to the emotional costs of gun violence incurred by the 
African-American community.
  The recent wave of class-action lawsuits against the firearms 
industry are based on the industry's failure to monitor the 
transmission of their product to the underground markets. These class-
action lawsuits seek to alter the marketing, distribution and sales of 
firearms. More specifically, they are an attempt to remedy the 
industry's failure to prevent unauthorized users from obtaining access 
to firearms, change the distribution system that permits firearms to be 
easily trafficked from the legal marketplace to the illegal 
marketplace, and eliminate deceptive advertising regarding the risks 
posed by having firearms in the home. Stated simply, these lawsuits are 
about distributing firearms responsibly.
  The NAACP lawsuit is slightly different because it does not seek to 
recover monetary damages, but the effect of the lawsuit would be the 
same. It seeks to change the sale, marketing, and distribution of the 
gun industry, whose alleged negligence permits the free flow of weapons 
in to the hands of juveniles and criminals. It asks for a court order 
to limit the number of firearms a single buyer can purchase each month 
and would require gun manufacturers to train retailers about ``straw'' 
purchases, and supervise the sales practices of firearms distributors 
and retailers. It would also require that dealers operate from a fixed 
retail location, and ensure that handguns are manufactured with safety 
devices.
  If the gun industry is found liable, it will draw a direct line of 
responsibility from the gun manufacturers to the unscrupulous 
distributors and dealers who provide firearms to felons. The gun 
industry would no longer be able to oversupply certain markets, thereby 
allowing guns to flow into the hands of juveniles and criminals. 
Manufacturers would no longer be able to turn a blind eye to the 
carnage produced by their products. If the gun industry is found 
liable, it may put an end to a majority of the gun violence caused by 
the unlawful, unregulated, underground firearm market.

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