House Proposals Shield Gun Industry in Court

Gun Show Sales Would Enjoy Special Immunity

The House bill would immunize vendors at gun shows�both federally licensed dealers and other sellers�from liability even if they knowingly fail to obey the new law. The proposal would extinguish long-established state common law by prohibiting injured plaintiffs from offering any evidence that a gun show seller failed to complete a background check. To add insult to injury, the bill would allow gun show sellers to offer evidence that they did complete a background check to protect themselves from such suits. No similar provision was included in the Senate-passed legislation.

Sellers at gun shows would be protected from civil liability for both "negligent entrustment" and "negligence per se"

Negligent entrustment is applied in cases in which a vendor of a dangerous commodity (such as a gun or explosives) knowingly sells it to a high-risk individual (such as a felon or juvenile) who then uses the product to kill or injure someone. For example, K-Mart was held liable for selling a rifle to a Florida man so intoxicated that the clerk had to help him fill out the required federal sales form. The buyer shot and killed his estranged girl friend later that same day.

Negligence per se applies in many states which hold individuals civilly liable when they violate a criminal law and death or injury results. For example, a retailer who sold a rifle to a convicted felon without obtaining a signature on the federal sales form may be liable to a victim of the purchaser. Proving such a case would be virtually impossible under H.R. 2122 because evidence that the seller failed to perform the background check could not be introduced in court.

Gun Lock Requirement Includes Massive Liability Waiver for Industry

Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) will offer an amendment similar to the Senate-passed provision which requires the sale of a "child safety device" with every new handgun�but would also protect any person who uses such a safety lock from liability resulting from the criminal or unlawful use of the gun. The devices are so loosely defined that ineffective "junk locks" would qualify. And the immunity is so broad it would shield not only adults keeping handguns in their homes, but also gun dealers and even manufacturers.