Barack Obama

Gunmakers may get suit-proof vest

Friday, July 29, 2005

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
By Jill Zuckman

Senate expected to pass liability shield; House OK likely

WASHINGTON -- After years of battle, gun rights advocates are poised to win one of their biggest victories, as the Senate moves toward shielding makers, dealers, distributors and importers of guns from liability lawsuits.

A result of increased Republican majorities in Congress, the passage of legal protection for the gun industry would mark an enormous setback for gun control advocates and for leaders of cities such as Chicago, who have filed suit against gun dealers and manufacturers.

It would also be the second dramatic win for the National Rifle Association and its supporters in two years. Last year, a national ban on assault weapons was allowed to expire over the bitter protests of gun control activists.

The gun liability measure, which is expected to pass as early as Friday, could signal that the tide has decisively turned on gun control, whose high-water mark came in 1994 with the Brady law mandating a waiting period before guns could be purchased. Some Democrats have blamed recent electoral losses in part on their general support for gun control.

Mike Franc, the vice president of government relations at the conservative Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, attributed the shift to an increasingly pro-security climate and to Democrats worried about hemorrhaging votes in rural and small-town America.

"In 2004, the Democrats as a party were noticeably silent on those gun issues," Franc said. "It's hard to find any races where it was put on the table in a pro-active way."

As recently as last year, Senate Democrats managed to thwart the gun liability bill by attaching amendments, such as one extending the assault gun ban, that were so unpalatable to the measure's supporters that they dropped the bill altogether.

But Senate Republicans won four additional seats in the last election, and that appears to be enough to push the bill through. The House would likely approve the bill if the Senate does, and President Bush has said he would sign it.

Infuriated Democrats on Thursday sought to play up the fact that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) yanked a defense authorization bill from the Senate floor, at a time of war, to push the gun bill through. They're also livid that Frist used a parliamentary maneuver to prevent them from offering amendments he doesn't support.

The legislation would provide immunity from civil lawsuits to gun manufacturers, gun dealers, distributors and importers of firearms and ammunition. In addition, trade groups would be protected and any pending legal action against gunmakers would be moot.

Democrats said that if the legislation becomes law, the gun industry would be the only one granted such blanket immunity.

Republicans, who are expected to be joined by at least 10 Democratic co-sponsors, say the measure is essential to providing protection to an industry being hounded by what some see as frivolous lawsuits.

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), the bill's chief advocate, has said that if gun manufacturers aren't protected, they may go out of business, forcing the military to buy its weapons abroad.

Other supporters have said that problems stem from the people using the guns, not the people making or selling them.

"The misuse of a gun is not caused by a manufacturer of a gun, it is caused by the person misusing the gun," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas). "The Senate is taking steps in every area we can to curb this litigiousness."

But Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said he is not worried about frivolous lawsuits, and is not aware of gun retailers going out of business in Arkansas.

Nonetheless, Pryor supports the measure, explaining, "I think it's unfair for gun manufacturers to be held liable just for manufacturing their product."

Those arguments did little to assuage Democrats incensed by the legislation. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who led the opposition, called questions about the military obtaining American-made guns "total nonsense."

"The Army buys a great deal of its guns from overseas already because they prefer the guns," said Reed, a West Point graduate, who noted that the Army had replaced the Colt .45 with the Beretta, which is made in Italy, as its standard-issue sidearm.

Democrats also complained that the legislation would deny a voice to people who have been injured and have no other way to seek redress other than to file a lawsuit.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who has taught law at the University of Chicago, said the courts have done a good job of handling, and disposing of, the suits that have been filed. And, he said, gun manufacturers and dealers are not going bankrupt from those cases.

"There is no crisis," Obama said. "Guns are plentiful. We have multiple guns for every man, woman and child in this country."

Some Democrats said they were stunned that Republican leaders would stop a defense bill designed to help American troops on the eve of Congress' monthlong recess.

"I can't imagine what's going through the mind of Sen. Frist to take the defense bill off the floor for this special-interest legislation," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the assistant Democratic leader. "What can that be saying to the men and women in uniform?"

The Senate voted 70-30 Thursday to adopt one amendment, with Frist's assent, that was offered by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) requiring any manufacturer or dealer to provide child safety locks with each purchase.