[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1805 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]
Calendar No. 363
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1805
To prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued
against manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms
or ammunition for damages resulting from the misuse of their products
by others.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 31, 2003
Mr. Craig introduced the following bill; which was read the first time
November 3, 2003
Read the second time and placed on the calendar
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued
against manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms
or ammunition for damages resulting from the misuse of their products
by others.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protection of Lawful Commerce in
Arms Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) Citizens have a right, protected by the Second
Amendment to the United States Constitution, to keep and bear
arms.
(2) Lawsuits have been commenced against manufacturers,
distributors, dealers, and importers of firearms that operate
as designed and intended, which seek money damages and other
relief for the harm caused by the misuse of firearms by third
parties, including criminals.
(3) The manufacture, importation, possession, sale, and use
of firearms and ammunition in the United States are heavily
regulated by Federal, State, and local laws. Such Federal laws
include the Gun Control Act of 1968, the National Firearms Act,
and the Arms Export Control Act.
(4) Businesses in the United States that are engaged in
interstate and foreign commerce through the lawful design,
manufacture, marketing, distribution, importation, or sale to
the public of firearms or ammunition that has been shipped or
transported in interstate or foreign commerce are not, and
should not, be liable for the harm caused by those who
criminally or unlawfully misuse firearm products or ammunition
products that function as designed and intended.
(5) The possibility of imposing liability on an entire
industry for harm that is solely caused by others is an abuse
of the legal system, erodes public confidence in our Nation's
laws, threatens the diminution of a basic constitutional right
and civil liberty, invites the disassembly and destabilization
of other industries and economic sectors lawfully competing in
the free enterprise system of the United States, and
constitutes an unreasonable burden on interstate and foreign
commerce of the United States.
(6) The liability actions commenced or contemplated by the
Federal Government, States, municipalities, and private
interest groups are based on theories without foundation in
hundreds of years of the common law and jurisprudence of the
United States and do not represent a bona fide expansion of the
common law. The possible sustaining of these actions by a
maverick judicial officer or petit jury would expand civil
liability in a manner never contemplated by the framers of the
Constitution, by Congress, or by the legislatures of the
several States. Such an expansion of liability would constitute
a deprivation of the rights, privileges, and immunities
guaranteed to a citizen of the United States under the
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1) To prohibit causes of action against manufacturers,
distributors, dealers, and importers of firearms or ammunition
products for the harm caused by the criminal or unlawful misuse
of firearm products or ammunition products by others when the
product functioned as designed and intended.
(2) To preserve a citizen's access to a supply of firearms
and ammunition for all lawful purposes, including hunting,
self-defense, collecting, and competitive or recreational
shooting.
(3) To guarantee a citizen's rights, privileges, and
immunities, as applied to the States, under the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution, pursuant to
section 5 of that Amendment.
(4) To prevent the use of such lawsuits to impose
unreasonable burdens on interstate and foreign commerce.
(5) To protect the right, under the First Amendment to the
Constitution, of manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and
importers of firearms or ammunition products, and trade
associations, to speak freely, to assemble peaceably, and to
petition the Government for a redress of their grievances.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON BRINGING OF QUALIFIED CIVIL LIABILITY ACTIONS IN
FEDERAL OR STATE COURT.
(a) In General.--A qualified civil liability action may not be
brought in any Federal or State court.
(b) Dismissal of Pending Actions.--A qualified civil liability
action that is pending on the date of enactment of this Act shall be
immediately dismissed by the court in which the action was brought.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) Engaged in the business.--The term ``engaged in the
business'' has the meaning given that term in section
921(a)(21) of title 18, United States Code, and, as applied to
a seller of ammunition, means a person who devotes, time,
attention, and labor to the sale of ammunition as a regular
course of trade or business with the principal objective of
livelihood and profit through the sale or distribution of
ammunition.
(2) Manufacturer.--The term ``manufacturer'' means, with
respect to a qualified product, a person who is engaged in the
business of manufacturing the product in interstate or foreign
commerce and who is licensed to engage in business as such a
manufacturer under chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code.
(3) Person.--The term ``person'' means any individual,
corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society,
joint stock company, or any other entity, including any
governmental entity.
(4) Qualified product.--The term ``qualified product''
means a firearm (as defined in subparagraph (A) or (B) of
section 921(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code), including
any antique firearm (as defined in section 921(a)(16) of such
title), or ammunition (as defined in section 921(a)(17)(A) of
such title), or a component part of a firearm or ammunition,
that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign
commerce.
(5) Qualified civil liability action.--
(A) In general.--The term ``qualified civil
liability action'' means a civil action brought by any
person against a manufacturer or seller of a qualified
product, or a trade association, for damages resulting
from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a qualified
product by the person or a third party, but shall not
include--
(i) an action brought against a transferor
convicted under section 924(h) of title 18,
United States Code, or a comparable or
identical State felony law, by a party directly
harmed by the conduct of which the transferee
is so convicted;
(ii) an action brought against a seller for
negligent entrustment or negligence per se;
(iii) an action in which a manufacturer or
seller of a qualified product violated a State
or Federal statute applicable to the sale or
marketing of the product, and the violation was
a proximate cause of the harm for which relief
is sought, including--
(I) any case in which the
manufacturer or seller knowingly made
any false entry in, or failed to make
appropriate entry in, any record
required to be kept under Federal or
State law;
(II) any case in which the
manufacturer or seller aided, abetted,
or conspired with any person in making
any false or fictitious oral or written
statement with respect to any fact
material to the lawfulness of the sale
or other disposition of a qualified
product; or
(III) any case in which the
manufacturer or seller aided, abetted,
or conspired with any other person to
sell or otherwise dispose of a
qualified product, knowing, or having
reasonable cause to believe, that the
actual buyer of the qualified product
was prohibited from possessing or
receiving a firearm or ammunition under
subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of
title 18, United States Code;
(iv) an action for breach of contract or
warranty in connection with the purchase of the
product; or
(v) an action for physical injuries or
property damage resulting directly from a
defect in design or manufacture of the product,
when used as intended or in a manner that is
reasonably foreseeable.
(B) Negligent entrustment.--As used in subparagraph
(A)(ii), the term ``negligent entrustment'' means the
supplying of a qualified product by a seller for use by
another person when the seller knows, or should know,
the person to whom the product is supplied is likely
to, and does, use the product in a manner involving
unreasonable risk of physical injury to the person or
others.
(C) Reasonably foreseeable.--As used in
subparagraph (A)(v), the term ``reasonably
foreseeable'' does not include any criminal or unlawful
misuse of a qualified product, other than possessory
offenses.
(D) Rule of construction.--The exceptions described
in subparagraph (A) shall be construed so as not to be
in conflict and no provision of this Act shall be
construed to create a Federal private cause of action
or remedy.
(6) Seller.--The term ``seller'' means, with respect to a
qualified product--
(A) an importer (as defined in section 921(a)(9) of
title 18, United States Code) who is engaged in the
business as such an importer in interstate or foreign
commerce and who is licensed to engage in business as
such an importer under chapter 44 of title 18, United
States Code;
(B) a dealer (as defined in section 921(a)(11) of
title 18, United States Code) who is engaged in the
business as such a dealer in interstate or foreign
commerce and who is licensed to engage in business as
such a dealer under chapter 44 of title 18, United
States Code; or
(C) a person engaged in the business of selling
ammunition (as defined in section 921(a)(17) of title
18, United States Code) in interstate or foreign
commerce at the wholesale or retail level, who is in
compliance with all applicable Federal, State, and
local laws.
(7) State.--The term ``State'' includes each of the several
States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American
Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
and any other territory or possession of the United States, and
any political subdivision of any such place.
(8) Trade association.--The term ``trade association''
means any association or business organization (whether or not
incorporated under Federal or State law)--
(A) that is not operated for profit;
(B) of which 2 or more members are manufacturers or
sellers of a qualified product; and
(C) that is involved in promoting the business
interests of its members, including organizing,
advising, or representing its members with respect to
their business, legislative or legal activities in
relation to the manufacture, importation, or sale of a
qualified product.
(9) Unlawful misuse.--The term ``unlawful misuse'' means
conduct that violates a statute, ordinance, or regulation as it
relates to the use of a qualified product.
Calendar No. 363
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1805
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued
against manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms
or ammunition for damages resulting from the misuse of their products
by others.
_______________________________________________________________________
November 3, 2003
Read the second time and placed on the calendar