In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.

A Bill Worth Passing HR 2037

Josey1Josey1 Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
edited April 2002 in General Discussion
ICHV: Constituents Must Say "No" to Federal Gun Industry Immunity
4/25/2002
Action Alert
Contact:
Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence
223 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: 312-341-0939
www.ichv.org

The Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings last week on the "Protection in Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" (HR 2037), also known as the Gun Industry Relief Act. This Act, sponsored by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and backed by the gun lobby, intends to make gun manufacturers and dealers immune from lawsuits filed as a result of their negligent sale and/or distribution of guns which are then used in gun crimes.

The only gun violence prevention organization asked to testify before the committee was the Washington D.C. based Violence Policy Center, a national organization conducting research and policy development aimed at reducing gun-related violence. VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand addressed the Committee, stating: "The Violence Policy Center is opposed to any legislation restricting the rights of public officials, consumers, or any other injured party to hold the gun industry accountable for its actions and its products. H.R. 2037 is an unwarranted assault on the rights of public officials to protect their citizens from gun violence."

This debate comes in tandem with a report released by the General Accounting Office that demonstrates how easy it is for an illegal gun trafficker to use a plainly counterfeit Federal Firearms License to buy guns. If HR 2037 were enacted, manufacturers and dealers providing weapons to traffickers would be immune from prosecution.

The debate of gun industry immunity legislation follows efforts by 33 city, county and state governments to hold negligent gun manufacturers and distributors legally accountable for the violence resulting from the negligent sale and distribution of their products in areas where they are illegal or to those who cannot legally purchase them. The NRA and gun lobby have worked hard to intimidate and threaten state legislatures into protecting their darling gun industry from any type of litigation. To date, 22 states have succumbed to gun lobby pressures and enacted immunity laws protecting the gun industry from lawsuits.

HR 2037 is a dangerous bill that would make it virtually impossible to hold an industry that is already exempt from federal health and safety standards accountable for the destruction resulting from their negligent conduct. No other industry is granted such blanket immunity. It is unfortunate that the sponsors of this bill have a greater loyalty to the gun industry than to reducing the human suffering caused by firearms in the United States.

Two of the House Sub-committee members are from Illinois: Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Chicago) Ph: 202-225-4372, and Congressman John Shimkus (R-Collinsville) Ph: 202-225-5271. They need to hear from you!

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
Tell the members of the Sub-committee to OPPOSE this bill! If you live or work in the districts represented by any subcommittee members, please call their offices to let then know that you OPPOSE immunity protection for the gun industry. Also, if you have friends or relatives in any of the states represented by the following legislators, please engage their help as well!

Contact the members of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection and tell them to SAY NO to the Gun Industry Relief Act (HR 2037). Contact information (address, phone, fax and e-mail) for your specific legislators can be found at www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html

OR you can contact the Capitol Switchboard at Ph: 202-224-3121. Give them your legislator's name and they will connect you with their office.

This committee is already getting barraged by phone calls from NRA members and the gun lobby. It's time for them to hear from US!

MEMBERS OF The Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, Federal House Energy and Commerce Committee

Cliff Stearns, (R-FL), Chairman

Republicans
Fred Upton (MI-6)
Nathan Deal (GA-9)
Ed Whitfield (KY-1)
Barbara Cubin, (WY-AL)
John Shimkus (IL-20)
John B. Shadegg (AZ-4)
Ed Bryant (TN-7)
Steve Buyer (IN-5)
George Radanovich (CA-19)
Charles F. Bass (NH-2)
Joseph R. Pitts (PA-16)
Mary Bono (CA-44)
Greg Walden (OR-2)
Lee Terry (NE-2)
Ernie Fletcher (KY-6)
W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (LA-3)
(Ex Officio)

Democrats
Edolphus Towns (NY-10), Ranking Member
Diana DeGette (CO-1)
Lois Capps (CA-22)
Mike Doyle (PA-18)
Chris John (LA-7)
Jane Harman (CA-36)
Henry A. Waxman (CA-29)
Edward J. Markey (MA-7)
Bart Gordon (TN-6)
Peter Deutsch (FL-20)
Bobby L. Rush (IL-1)
Anna G. Eshoo (CA-14)
John D. Dingell (MI-16)

Thank you for your dedication to preventing gun death and injury in Illinois!



Date of Release: April 24, 2002
http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/alerts/reader/0,2061,550471,00.html



"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Sign In or Register to comment.