One of the primary goals of anti-gunners is to bankrupt the gun industry by repealing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) reintroduced legislation this week that would do just that.
Rep. Schiff and Sen. Blumenthal call their bill the, “Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act,” and say it allows victims to have “their day in court.”
“Our simple measure will give victims of gun violence their day in court and unlock the doors to justice —repealing the sweetheart deal that Congress granted to the gun lobby,” said Sen. Blumenthal, referring to the PLCAA which was enacted in 2005.
Rep. Schiff, added, “This bill would pierce the gun industry’s liability shield by putting an end to the special protections the gun industry receives when they shirk their fundamental responsibility to act with reasonable care for the public safety. Victims of gun violence deserve their day in court.”
Schiff and Blumenthal are grossly mischaracterizing the purpose of PLCAA. It does NOT protect members of the gun industry from product liability suits for manufacturing or design defects or certain types of negligent conduct. It merely prohibits lawsuits against gun makers for damages resulting from the third-party criminal misuse of their firearms.
The PLCAA is common sense. So much so that even Comrade Bernie Sanders gets it. While debating Hillary Clinton in Flint Michigan in 2016, the Bern-Man explained why he voted for the PLCAA more than a decade ago.
“If I understand it, and correct me if I’m wrong, if you go to a gun store and you legally purchase a gun, and then three days later you go out and start killing people, is the point of this lawsuit to hold the gun shop owner or the manufacturer of that gun liable?” Sanders asked.
“If that is the point, I have to tell you I disagree. I disagree because you hold people in terms of this liability thing where you hold manufacturer’s liable is if they understand that they are selling guns in an area getting into the hands of criminals, of course they should be held liable,” Sanders continued.
Sanders went on to say that if gun makers and dealers are going to be held accountable for the rogue actions of killers then “what you are really talking about is ending gun manufacturing in America.”
Bingo. That’s exactly what the goal is. Ending gun manufacturing in America.
To an extent, we’re already witnessing this in Connecticut. Parents of Sandy Hook massacre victims are suing Bushmaster Firearms International, a subsidiary of Remington, claiming that the gun company is responsible, in part, for the December 2012 tragedy that left 27 dead.
Back in March of this year, the state Supreme Court ruled that the lawsuit could go forward despite the protections of the PLCAA because the company’s advertising may have been unlawful under Connecticut’s Unfair Trade Practices Act.
In other words, it wasn’t his severe mental illness that propelled the killer to gun down his mom, 20 school children and six staffers, it was Bushmaster’s AR-15 ads. If we accept that logic the Beatles should be in jail for the Manson murders. After all, it was their music that made Manson do it. Right?
Even with the PLCAA in place, gun manufacturers are already targets of frivolous lawsuits. Strip it away and it will be, as Comrade Bernie said, the end of gun manufacturing in America.
*Reposted from gunsamerica.com
Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill to Bankrupt Gun Manufacturers, Dealers