Posted by casey at July 27th, 2005

In a quick change of events, Majority Leader Bill Frist(R-TN) changes debate from the important Defense Funding Bill to a bill that would ban people from suing the gun industry for negligence. In a time of war, the majority leader apparently feels the gun industry is more important than funding operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the global war on terrorism.

Also - Frist keeps saying that this bill makes the crimial rather than the gun industry responsible for illegal actions. He is basically taking the stance that if guns don’t kill people, people kill people, so the gun industry isn’t liable for the crime. This is fine, but then they should also side with and support the likes of Grokster and Limewire against the RIAA in P2P file sharing cases. P2P software doesn’t download illegal music, people download illegal music.

Here is one case in which this bill falls down. Say a gun manufacturer hires an employee and fails to do a background check. Now, what if that employee happens to be a known criminal? Say the new employee steals guns off the assembly line and uses them to kill people. Shouldn’t the victims be able to sue the employer for negligence in not doing a background check? Ironically, this is the case of Danny Guzman vs Gun Manufacturer Kahr Arms which would be thrown out if this bill succeeds.

What about the case where a gun dealer forgets to lock his door and gets cleaned out overnight. Say those guns are used in rapes and murders the next day. On top of the criminals being held liable, shouldn’t the dealer that wasn’t careful with his store that housed dangerous weapons also be held liable?

More Lawsuits in Jeapordy of being thrown out.