http://craig.senate.gov/press/

For Immediate Release:
February 27, 2004

For Responsibility, Law, and the Second Amendment

by Senator Larry Craig

Suppose you are driving down the street in your hometown. After pausing at a stop sign or traffic signal, you accelerate into the intersection when it's your turn to go. Then, out of nowhere, a reckless, speeding driver collides with your car, injuring you and perhaps your loved ones.

This very same thing has happened to many Americans and a fair number of Idahoans as well. If this happened to you, you would have every right to take that person to court for the physical, emotional, and economic damage they caused you. I support your right to do that. But let me ask you a question. Would you also sue the local car dealership that sold the other driver his car? Would you take General Motors or Ford or Chrysler to court?

Of course not, because as long as the car dealership followed the law in selling that driver the car, and as long as the car was properly manufactured, the dealership and manufacturer are not responsible for the manner in which their products are used.

Unfortunately, there are many trial lawyers and social activists who don't see it that way.

When it comes to firearms and the firearms industry, these anti-Second Amendment lawyers and activists will use any means possible to take firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens and bankrupt the firearms industry in the United States. However, a large majority of Americans oppose gun control and more gun control laws, so the lawyers and activists have turned to the courts to achieve what they cannot through the legislative process.

If they can't take your Second Amendment rights away by passing new laws, then the anti-gun activists will certainly make firearms harder to get by suing the firearms industry until it can no longer afford to defend itself or operate. They are being joined in these suits by big, crime-ridden cities that refuse to crack down on their criminal element. As your Senator, I cannot let that happen.

Furthermore, the American firearms industry supplies our men and women in uniform with the high quality weapons their lives depend on, whether they are going into battle or protecting our streets. If our firearms industry shuts down, we will have to rely on foreign suppliers for our military and law enforcement. That scenario is absolutely unacceptable.

That is why I have spent much of my time in the last week debating S.1805, the Protection of the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which I sponsored. If it does pass, this legislation will stop anti-gun activists from suing the firearms industry into extinction. At the same time, it will preserve the right of victims to sue firearms dealers or manufacturers who break or neglect the law, or create faulty products.

Contrary to what some have claimed, S.1805 will not lock the courthouse door to victims of crime. Either the critics aren't being truthful in saying so, or they haven't read the bill to see what it actually says. If a criminal is sold a weapon, the party selling him that weapon can still be sued. If a firearm malfunction results in an injury, the manufacturer can still be sued.

Common sense says firearms dealers and manufacturers who follow the law shouldn't be sued for the actions of people over whom they have no control. This bill will simply put that common sense into law.

I know Idahoans are tired of frivolous lawsuits clogging our courts. They are tired of trial lawyers collecting millions of dollars for winning cases, while the actual victims get next to nothing. They are tired of activists using the courts to push agendas they can't achieve through the legislative process. They are tired of an increasingly "sue-happy" society, and just want some common sense to return to the courtrooms of America. Should it pass, I think this bill will be a strong step in that direction, and a victory for the Second Amendment.

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