[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17184]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       GUN LIABILITY LEGISLATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, first I would like to congratulate a 
colleague of ours, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey), who 
is actually having her 100th 5-minute Special Order, and we are very 
proud of her, the country is very proud of her, on bringing issues that 
certainly affect her constituency and all of ours. So I congratulate 
her.
  The leadership of Congress is constantly preaching about 
responsibility. Individuals should accept the consequences of their 
actions. Unfortunately, this culture of responsibility does not extend 
to the gun industry and negligent gun sellers.
  The other body is planning on taking on legislation to grant the gun 
industry unprecedented immunity from litigation and other legal action. 
Under this legislation, dealers and manufacturers of guns would receive 
immunity from any legal action. The gun industry would be unlike the 
sellers and makers of nearly every other consumer product. These 
industries must face the consequences of their negligence and 
misjudgment. In fact, manufacturers and sellers of toy guns are more 
liable for their products than the makers and sellers of assault 
weapons and handguns.
  The NRA has named this issue as their number one legislative priority 
this year. They say this bill will end frivolous lawsuits, but not a 
single, not a single suit against the gun industry has ever been deemed 
frivolous by a court of law.
  This legislation is not about protecting an honest gun dealer who 
legally sells a gun to someone who later commits a crime. This 
legislation protects cases of gross negligence which has led to the 
deaths of unsuspecting victims.
  For example, the owner of the Bull's Eye Shooter Supply Store in 
Washington State was sued because he could not account for 239 guns in 
his inventory. One of those guns was the Bushmaster used in the D.C. 
sniper killings. The D.C. sniper killers were allowed to get their 
hands on a gun because of a gun seller's negligence. But this 
legislation would get the Bull's Eye Shooter Supply Store off the hook 
from any legal action.
  Fortunately, a lawsuit was already filed against Bull's Eye and 
Bushmaster. Part of the settlement was Bushmaster agreeing to work with 
its dealer to promote safe sales practices to prevent continued 
instances of negligence. But the bill being taken up by the other body 
would have forced the immediate dismissal of the lawsuit against Bull's 
Eye.
  The gun industry must be subjected to the same laws that govern every 
other American business, and courthouse doors must remain open to those 
injured or who have lost loved ones because of the gun industry's 
negligence. This bill would allow gun dealers to knowingly sell large 
quantities of guns to a single customer intending to traffic the guns 
to criminals without any legal repercussions.
  Stripping away the threat of legal action would seriously jeopardize 
any opportunity to make guns safer. Without the threat of lawsuits, the 
gun industry would have no incentive to incorporate gun locks, safety 
triggers, and smart gun technology into their products. Imagine if this 
bill had been passed 40 years ago to cover the auto industry. Today 
cars would not have seatbelts, airbags, or antilock brakes.
  Instead of giving the gun industry never-before-seen levels of 
protection, I support giving the industry Federal research and 
development money. This money will be used to develop reasonable safety 
measures for their products.
  Congress has not been responding to the threat that gun violence 
poses on our safety and homeland security. So I will speak in a 
language the congressional leadership understands: dollars and cents.
  It is unfortunate Congress will not allow the Centers for Disease 
Control to study the economic impact of gun violence, so we have to use 
data from independent sources.

                              {time}  1945

  Independent studies have shown gun violence costs our health care 
system over $100 billion a year, $100 billion a year. The $100 billion-
a-year cost includes premiums paid for private health insurance and tax 
dollars used to pay for Medicaid.
  These costs often are not reimbursed and cost the States vital health 
care money. Victims who survive and suffer years of rehabilitation 
costs run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The average cost 
of each firearm fatality, including medical care, police services, and 
lost productivity is almost $1 million per person.
  Researchers found taxpayers finance 48 percent of health care costs 
resulting from gun violence through Medicaid and other government 
programs, which means the American taxpayers are footing the bill for 
the destruction gun violence causes.
  Mr. Speaker, why are we spending time helping the gun dealers and 
manufacturers? We should be investigating technology that will make 
guns safer. Safer, smarter guns prevent lawsuits against the gun 
industry, but more importantly prevent the tragic, unnecessary loss of 
life that the gun industry's negligence provokes.
  We should be giving them research and development money. We should be 
doing everything we can to prevent the injuries. People do not 
understand when gun violence hits home, it is a whole disaster to the 
family and to the community. We can do a better job. We should be doing 
a better job.
  But protecting the gun industry, or certainly the gun dealers from 
not being able to be sued, is wrong. We should not be closing the 
courts for anyone.

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