The Senate did the right thing here. The rash of lawsuits in recent years is an example of the terrible abuse of the court system. Many cities and others have sued the gun manufacturers for damages because some people used guns while committing crime. This is absurd. Would knife and hammer manufacturers be next? I hope the legislation includes a provision that all existing suits will be thrown out. The judges who accepted these suits in the first place should have known better.
"'This bill is intended to do one thing and that is to end the abuse that is now going on in the court system of America against law-abiding American businesses when they violate no law,' Senator Larry Craig, an Idaho Republican who is a chief advocate for gun-rights causes in Congress, said Friday.
Democratic opponents of the bill disputed the assertion that a lawsuit crisis threatened the industry and said that the measure was simply a reflection of the National Rifle Association's influence over Congress.
'This is about politics, the power of the N.R.A. to dictate legislation,' said Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, who led the opposition.
But Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, and 13 other Democrats joined 50 Republicans and one independent to support the bill; it now goes to the House, where its prospects for approval are good when Congress returns. Twenty-nine Democrats and two Republicans opposed it"
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