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1 (April 10, 2003)

handle is hein.crs/crsuntaaayh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21486 Updated April 10, 2003 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, H.R. 1036, 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. 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 dismissed. 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 suits.1 Opponents of H.R. 1036 have denounced the proposed legislation as an unfair favor to an industry and a federal usurpation of states' rights, and have said that it would bring progress toward safer guns to a screaming halt and make it more difficult for gun violence victims to recover damages.... It would prevent cities from collecting Congressional Research Service +** The Library of Congress 1 John Tierney, A New Push to Grant Gun Industry Immunity From Suits, New York Times, Apr. 4, 2003, p. A10.

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