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1 (September 5, 2003)

handle is hein.crs/crsuntaaayg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21486 Updated September 5, 2003 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, H.R. 1036 and S. 659, 108th Congress: Legal Analysis Henry Cohen Legislative Attorney American Law Division Summary The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, H.R. 1036, 108'h Congress, as passed by the House on April 9, 2003, would prohibit lawsuits, except in specified circumstances, against a manufacturer or seller of a firearm or ammunition, or a trade association, for damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm or ammunition. A similar bill, S. 659, has been introduced in the Senate, and, except where indicated in a footnote, every statement in this report about H.R. 1036 also applies to S. 659. This report examines H.R. 1036, 108'h Congress, as ordered to be reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on April 3, 2003, and passed by the House without amendment on April 9, 2003. H.R. 1036, titled the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, would prohibit lawsuits, except in specified circumstances, against a manufacturer or seller of a firearm or ammunition, or a trade association, for damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm or ammunition. The bill would also require that pending lawsuits brought by shooting victims and municipalities be immediately dismissed by the court in which the action was brought or is currently pending.' Among the circumstances when the bill would permit a lawsuit to be brought or to continue would be when the defendant violated 18 U.S.C. § 924(h) by transferring a firearm, knowing that it would be used to commit a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime. The bill's findings state that it is an abuse of the legal system to hold defendants liable for harm caused by those who criminally or unlawfully misuse firearm products or ammunition products that function as designed and intended. A cosponsor of the bill said, We're trying to stop making public policy through the courts with these nuisance 1 The words or is currently pendingare not in S. 659. Congressional Research Service *** The Library of Congress

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