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House Panel Backs Bill to Stop Gun Lawsuits
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
House Panel Backs Bill to Stop Gun Lawsuits
WASHINGTON - (Reuters) - A bill to grant gun manufacturers and sellers broad protection from lawsuits, including a spate of suits aimed at holding them responsible for gun violence, easily passed a House panel on Thursday.
Florida Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns and other sponsors of the legislation said it would stop "frivolous" and politically motivated lawsuits aimed at driving gun makers into bankruptcy. It passed a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on a voice vote, with only a few Democrats dissenting.
More than 30 cities and counties have filed suits against gun makers, trying to hold them more accountable for firearm violence. Several of those suits have been thrown out of court and state legislatures have blocked others. The city of Boston several weeks ago dropped its suit, citing the formidable cost of fighting the industry.
Stearns, chairman of the Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee, termed those lawsuits "blatant interference with the constitutional right to sell and market" a legal product. Backers of his bill said gun makers should not be held responsible if someone uses a gun to commit a crime.
Opponents said the bill would do far more than fight these controversial lawsuits against manufacturers. They argued it would also give gun makers and gun sellers sweeping protection against many other suits, including for instance a case when a poorly made weapon discharged accidentally when dropped.
New York Democrat Edolphus Towns said he had heard of "tossing bones to constituents" but that this legislation was "a porterhouse (steak) with all the sides included" for gun makers and the National Rifle Association.
The bill faces further action by two committees before it could reach the House floor, where it enjoys considerable support. A companion bill was recently introduced in the Senate, but no action has been taken. http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/politics/3230967.htm
"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
WASHINGTON - (Reuters) - A bill to grant gun manufacturers and sellers broad protection from lawsuits, including a spate of suits aimed at holding them responsible for gun violence, easily passed a House panel on Thursday.
Florida Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns and other sponsors of the legislation said it would stop "frivolous" and politically motivated lawsuits aimed at driving gun makers into bankruptcy. It passed a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on a voice vote, with only a few Democrats dissenting.
More than 30 cities and counties have filed suits against gun makers, trying to hold them more accountable for firearm violence. Several of those suits have been thrown out of court and state legislatures have blocked others. The city of Boston several weeks ago dropped its suit, citing the formidable cost of fighting the industry.
Stearns, chairman of the Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee, termed those lawsuits "blatant interference with the constitutional right to sell and market" a legal product. Backers of his bill said gun makers should not be held responsible if someone uses a gun to commit a crime.
Opponents said the bill would do far more than fight these controversial lawsuits against manufacturers. They argued it would also give gun makers and gun sellers sweeping protection against many other suits, including for instance a case when a poorly made weapon discharged accidentally when dropped.
New York Democrat Edolphus Towns said he had heard of "tossing bones to constituents" but that this legislation was "a porterhouse (steak) with all the sides included" for gun makers and the National Rifle Association.
The bill faces further action by two committees before it could reach the House floor, where it enjoys considerable support. A companion bill was recently introduced in the Senate, but no action has been taken. http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/politics/3230967.htm
"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
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