Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act

PROTECTION OF LAWFUL COMMERCE IN ARMS ACT -- (House of Representatives - October 20, 2005)

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Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I rise today in support of Senate bill 397, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. I would like to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and the Committee on the Judiciary for all their hard work on this much-needed piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I consider myself a strong supporter of the second amendment to our Constitution and truly believe in the rights of Americans to keep and bear arms.

For a long time, I have been very dismayed at the anti-gun lobby's effort to litigate the gun industry to death. Taking gun manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors to court for the actions of criminals is ludicrous. These are mostly small to medium-sized business owners who cannot afford to pay lawyer fees to avoid lawsuits.

Senate bill 397 is a bipartisan effort to reform the civil liability system to ensure that those who lawfully make and sell firearms cannot be held liable for the misuse and criminal use of those firearms.

The current system is equivalent to someone stealing my Chevrolet truck, committing a crime with it, and then GM being sued for millions of dollars for their misdeeds. Now this, to me, is ridiculous. It is time for Congress to derail the efforts of certain organizations whose aim is to bankrupt the firearms industry through litigation.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting Senate bill 397, a commonsense measure to protect small businesses and preserve the second amendment rights of American citizens.

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