[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 19, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3996-S3999]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CRAIG (for himself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Allard, 
        Mr. Allen, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Bond, Mr. Breaux,

[[Page S3998]]

        Mr. Brownback, Mr. Bunning, Mr. Burns, Mr. Campbell, Mr. 
        Chambliss, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Coleman, Ms. Collins, Mr. Cornyn, 
        Mr. Crapo, Mrs. Dole, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Ensign, Mr. 
        Enzi, Mr. Frist, Mr. Graham of South Carolina, Mr. Grassley, 
        Mr. Gregg, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Hatch, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Inhofe, 
        Mr. Johnson, Mr. Kyl, Ms. Landrieu, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Lott, Mr. 
        McConnell, Mr. Miller, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, 
        Mr. Nickles, Mr. Reid, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Sessions, 
        Mr. Shelby, Mr. Smith, Mr. Specter, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Sununu, 
        Mr. Talent, and Mr. Thomas):
  S. 659. A bill to prohibit civil liability 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 the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with Senator Baucus in 
introducing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, on behalf of 
ourselves and more than half of our colleagues in the United States 
Senate: Senators Alexander, Allard, Allen, Bennett, Bond, Breaux, 
Brownback, Bunning, Burns, Campbell, Chambliss, Cochran, Coleman, 
Collins, Cornyn, Crapo, Dole, Domenici, Dorgan, Ensign, Enzi, Frist, 
Graham of South Carolina, Grassley, Gregg, Hagel, Hatch, Hutchison, 
Inhofe, Johnson, Kyl, Landrieu, Lincoln, Lott, McConnell, Miller, 
Murkowski, Nelson of Nebraska, Nickles, Reid, Roberts, Santorum, 
Sessions, Shelby, Smith, Specter, Stevens, Sununu, Talent, and Thomas.
  This is an extraordinary showing of support for a bill, and I believe 
it is a testament to the gravity of the threat addressed by the 
legislation: the abuse of our courts through lawsuits filed to force 
law-abiding businesses to pay for criminal acts by individuals beyond 
their control.
  The businesses I am talking about are collectively known as the U.S. 
firearms industry. The lawsuits in question claim that even though 
these businesses comply with all laws and sell a legitimate product, 
they should be responsible for the misuse or illegal use of the firearm 
by a criminal. These actions are pursued with the intent of driving 
this industry out of business, regardless of the thousands of jobs that 
would be lost in the process and the impact on citizens across the 
Nation who would never contemplate committing a crime with a gun.
  Let me be clear about this. These lawsuits are not brought by 
individuals seeking relief for injuries done to them by anyone in the 
industry. Instead, this is a politically-inspired initiative trying to 
force social goals through an end-run around the Congress and state 
legislatures.
  The theory on which these lawsuits are based would be laughable, if 
it weren't so dangerous: to pin the responsibility for a criminal act 
on an innocent party who wasn't there and had nothing to do with it. 
They argue that merely by virtue of the fact that a gun was present, 
those who were part of the commercial distribution chain should be held 
responsible for the gun's misuse.
  This isn't a legal theory--it's just the latest twist in the gun 
controllers' notion that it's the gun, and not the criminal, that 
causes crime.
  The truth of the matter is that there are millions of firearms in 
this country today, yet only a tiny fraction of them have ever been 
used in the commission of a crime. The truth of the matter is that 
again and again, law-abiding firearm owners are using their guns, often 
without even firing a shot, to defend life and property. The truth of 
the matter is that the intent of the user, not the gun, is what 
determines whether that gun will be used in a crime. The trend of 
abusive litigation targeting the firearms industry not only defies 
common sense and concepts of fundamental fairness, but it would do 
nothing to curb criminal gun violence. Furthermore, the burdens it 
seeks to impose would jeopardize Americans' constitutionally-protected 
access to firearms for self defense and other lawful uses.
  The bill that more than half of the United States Senate has already 
endorsed is a measured response that would put a stop to this abusive 
trend without endangering legitimate claims for relief. Let me 
emphasize that it does not insulate the firearms industry from all 
lawsuits or deprive legitimate victims of their day in court, as some 
critics have charged. Indeed, it specifically provides that actions 
based on the wrongful conduct of those involved in the business of 
manufacturing and selling firearms--breaches of contract, defects in 
firearms, negligent entrustment, criminal behavior--would not be 
affected by this legislation. It is solely directed at stopping 
frivolous, politically-driven litigation against law-abiding 
individuals for the misbehavior of criminals over whom they had no 
control.
  The courts of our Nation are supposed to be forums for resolving 
controversies between citizens and providing relief where warranted, 
not a mechanism for achieving political ends that are rejected by the 
people's representatives in Congress and the state legislatures. I hope 
all our colleagues will join us in taking a measured, principled stand 
against this abusive litigation by supporting the Protection of Lawful 
Commerce In Arms Act.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 659

       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 ``Protection of Lawful 
     Commerce in Arms Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
       (1) Citizens have a right, protected by 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 firearms that operate 
     as designed and intended, 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 are 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, 
     manufacture, marketing, distribution, importation, or sale to 
     the public of firearms or ammunition that has been shipped or 
     transported in interstate or foreign commerce are not, and 
     should not, be liable for the harm caused by those who 
     criminally or unlawfully misuse firearm products or 
     ammunition products that function as designed and intended.
       (5) The possibility of imposing liability on an entire 
     industry for harm that is solely caused by others is an abuse 
     of the legal system, erodes public confidence in our Nation's 
     laws, threatens the diminution of a basic constitutional 
     right and civil liberty, invites the disassembly and 
     destabilization of other industries and economic sectors 
     lawfully competing in the free enterprise system of the 
     United States, and constitutes an unreasonable burden on 
     interstate and foreign commerce of the United States.
       (6) The liability actions commenced or contemplated by the 
     Federal Government, States, municipalities, and private 
     interest groups are based on theories without foundation in 
     hundreds of years of the common law and jurisprudence of the 
     United States and do not represent a bona fide expansion of 
     the common law. The possible sustaining of these actions by a 
     maverick judicial officer or petit jury would expand civil 
     liability in a manner never contemplated by the framers of 
     the Constitution, by Congress, or by the legislatures of the 
     several States. 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 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 when the product functioned as designed and intended.
       (2) To preserve a citizen's access to a supply of firearms 
     and ammunition for all lawful purposes, including hunting, 
     self-defense, collecting, and competitive or recreational 
     shooting.
       (3) 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 5 of that Amendment.

[[Page S3999]]

       (4) To prevent the use of such lawsuits to impose 
     unreasonable burdens on interstate and foreign commerce.
       (5) To protect the right, under the First Amendment to the 
     Constitution, of manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and 
     importers of firearms or ammunition products, and trade 
     associations, to speak freely, to assemble peaceably, and to 
     petition the Government for a redress of their grievances.

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

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

     SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

        In this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
       (1) Engaged in the business.--The term ``engaged in the 
     business'' has the meaning given that term in section 
     921(a)(21) of title 18, United States Code, and, as applied 
     to a seller of ammunition, means a person who devotes, time, 
     attention, and labor to the sale of ammunition as a regular 
     course of trade or business with the principal objective of 
     livelihood and profit through the sale or distribution of 
     ammunition.
       (2) Manufacturer.--The term ``manufacturer'' means, with 
     respect to a qualified product, a person who is engaged in 
     the business of manufacturing the product in interstate or 
     foreign commerce and who is licensed to engage in business as 
     such a manufacturer under chapter 44 of title 18, United 
     States Code.
       (3) Person.--The term ``person'' means any individual, 
     corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, 
     society, joint stock company, or any other entity, including 
     any governmental entity.
       (4) Qualified product.--The term ``qualified product'' 
     means a firearm (as defined in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 
     section 921(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code), including 
     any antique firearm (as defined in section 921(a)(16) of such 
     title), 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.
       (5) Qualified civil liability action.--
       (A) In general.--The term ``qualified civil liability 
     action'' means a civil action brought by any person against a 
     manufacturer or seller of a qualified product, or a trade 
     association, for damages resulting from the criminal or 
     unlawful misuse of a qualified product by the person or a 
     third party, but shall not include--
       (i) an action brought against a transferor convicted under 
     section 924(h) of title 18, United States Code, or a 
     comparable or identical State felony law, by a party directly 
     harmed by the conduct of which the transferee is so 
     convicted;
       (ii) an action brought against a seller for negligent 
     entrustment or negligence per se;
       (iii) an action in which a manufacturer or seller of a 
     qualified product knowingly and willfully violated a State or 
     Federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing of the 
     product, and the violation was a proximate cause of the harm 
     for which relief is sought;
       (iv) an action for breach of contract or warranty in 
     connection with the purchase of the product; or
       (v) an action for physical injuries or property damage 
     resulting directly from a defect in design or manufacture of 
     the product, when used as intended.
       (B) Negligent entrustment.--In subparagraph (A)(ii), the 
     term ``negligent entrustment'' means the supplying of a 
     qualified product by a seller for use by another person when 
     the seller knows, or should know, the person to whom the 
     product is supplied is likely to, and does, use the product 
     in a manner involving unreasonable risk of physical injury to 
     the person and others.
       (6) Seller.--The term ``seller'' means, with respect to a 
     qualified product--
       (A) an importer (as defined in section 921(a)(9) of title 
     18, United States Code) who is engaged in the business as 
     such an importer in interstate or foreign commerce and who is 
     licensed to engage in business as such an importer under 
     chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code;
       (B) a dealer (as defined in section 921(a)(11) of title 18, 
     United States Code) who is engaged in the business as such a 
     dealer in interstate or foreign commerce and who is licensed 
     to engage in business as such a dealer under chapter 44 of 
     title 18, United States Code; or
       (C) a person engaged in the business of selling ammunition 
     (as defined in section 921(a)(17) of title 18, United States 
     Code) in interstate or foreign commerce at the wholesale or 
     retail level, consistent with Federal, State, and local law.
       (7) 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.
       (8) Trade association.--The term ``trade association'' 
     means any association or business organization (whether or 
     not incorporated under Federal or State law) that is not 
     operated for profit, and 2 or more members of which are 
     manufacturers or sellers of a qualified product.
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