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from the Atlana Journal Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/1103/10equal.html
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/1103/10equal.html
Firearms industry regulated enough
By ALAN M. GOTTLIEB
Gun control activists, having failed to promote their extremist anti-gun-rights agenda in the legislative arena, have turned to the courts to accomplish what they couldn't get through the conventional legislative process.
Grant-driven organizations such as the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the NAACP have encouraged and assisted cities, counties and states to file lawsuits against the firearms industry to achieve their failed legislative agenda.
More than 30 states have passed legislation prohibiting such lawsuits. In May, the U.S. House of Representatives, with broad bipartisan support, overwhelmingly passed its version of the Lawful Commerce in Firearms Act. The Senate counterpart enjoys equally broad bipartisan support.
The firearms industry is one of the most heavily regulated in the United States, with extensive federal and local laws controlling manufacture, distribution and delivery at the retail level.
Unlike other industries, most violations of federal firearms code are felonies that impose severe penalties against violators, penalties that put the violator out of the firearms business permanently, destroying their livelihood in the process.
Firearms are a lawful product, constitutionally protected, manufactured and sold in compliance with strict federal and local law.
The Senate bill would not prevent a cause of action by a private citizen against a manufacturer, distributor or dealer who sold a defective product or who violated federal or state law in delivering a firearm to an individual.
But it would prohibit suits against the firearms industry for the subsequent misuse of its legally sold products, misuse over which it has absolutely no control. Do we hold Ford liable when a bank robber uses a Taurus in his getaway?
The Senate bill keeps the lid on this Pandora's box of unwarranted judicial activism and protects the consumer from a back-door gun ban.
Alan M. Gottlieb is the founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. Joe Waldron is the executive director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
© 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution