cuchulainn
April 8, 2003, 08:58 AM
from the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/08/opinion/08TUE3.html?ex=1050379200&en=74b9c5d7a8b4ec07&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLECongress's Pet Arsenal
Under cover of war, the domestic gun industry is prodding Congress to anoint it as the "Arsenal of Democracy" by enacting a disastrous bill to give gun makers and dealers unprecedented protection from liability suits by state and local governments and victims of gun violence. The "Arsenal" argument is being pressed by lobbyists who want to enshrine the industry as the safeguard of freedom "here at home and around the world," as the National Shooting Sports Foundation puts it.
The timing of the legislation, expected this week on the House floor, is no less cynical. The bill was strategically delayed last fall, when sniper shootings were terrifying the Washington area. Now that the country is engrossed in the Iraqi war, the bill is moving in Congress with high chances for passage, barring a Democratic filibuster.
The bill would shelter the industry from the product liability provisions that apply to most manufacturers, even the makers of toy guns. Various local governments are now in court attempting to show that the manufacturers that make guns that too often surface in illegal activities, and the stores that make no attempt to follow the law in selling guns, should be held liable for the relentless damages of gun violence. Survivors of some of the Washington-area sniping victims have gone to court to sue the manufacturer of the gun that is said to be the murder weapon and the gun shop that sold it after discovering that the dealer had reported 238 guns "missing" from its inventory in three years alone.
Now the industry is putting pressure on lawmakers in statehouses and Congress to hobble the courts. If approved, the bill would scuttle all pending and future litigation. Among the most promising is a N.A.A.C.P. suit in Brooklyn that uses federal gun data to argue that manufacturers and wholesalers are in calculated denial about shady dealers who regularly funnel weapons into criminal hands. This suit would be stopped dead in its tracks by the industry's bill.
The passage of this bill would do nothing for average gun owners. What the sudden pressure to get it through Congress makes clear is that the gun lobby, while theoretically concerned with the right to bear arms, is chiefly worried about protecting the right to make money off them.
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/08/opinion/08TUE3.html?ex=1050379200&en=74b9c5d7a8b4ec07&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLECongress's Pet Arsenal
Under cover of war, the domestic gun industry is prodding Congress to anoint it as the "Arsenal of Democracy" by enacting a disastrous bill to give gun makers and dealers unprecedented protection from liability suits by state and local governments and victims of gun violence. The "Arsenal" argument is being pressed by lobbyists who want to enshrine the industry as the safeguard of freedom "here at home and around the world," as the National Shooting Sports Foundation puts it.
The timing of the legislation, expected this week on the House floor, is no less cynical. The bill was strategically delayed last fall, when sniper shootings were terrifying the Washington area. Now that the country is engrossed in the Iraqi war, the bill is moving in Congress with high chances for passage, barring a Democratic filibuster.
The bill would shelter the industry from the product liability provisions that apply to most manufacturers, even the makers of toy guns. Various local governments are now in court attempting to show that the manufacturers that make guns that too often surface in illegal activities, and the stores that make no attempt to follow the law in selling guns, should be held liable for the relentless damages of gun violence. Survivors of some of the Washington-area sniping victims have gone to court to sue the manufacturer of the gun that is said to be the murder weapon and the gun shop that sold it after discovering that the dealer had reported 238 guns "missing" from its inventory in three years alone.
Now the industry is putting pressure on lawmakers in statehouses and Congress to hobble the courts. If approved, the bill would scuttle all pending and future litigation. Among the most promising is a N.A.A.C.P. suit in Brooklyn that uses federal gun data to argue that manufacturers and wholesalers are in calculated denial about shady dealers who regularly funnel weapons into criminal hands. This suit would be stopped dead in its tracks by the industry's bill.
The passage of this bill would do nothing for average gun owners. What the sudden pressure to get it through Congress makes clear is that the gun lobby, while theoretically concerned with the right to bear arms, is chiefly worried about protecting the right to make money off them.
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company