They Hate That Gun Companies Aren’t Liable for Criminals
The anti-gun lobby has long despised one thing above all: the fact that gun manufacturers aren’t automatically held liable when criminals commit crimes. That frustration boiled over again this month, with three major developments:
- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Mexico’s lawsuit trying to hold American gunmakers responsible for cartel violence south of the border.
- The state of Connecticut passed a new law gutting and removing PLCAA protections at the state level. (one of many states to have done this in recent years)
- Anti-gun senators introduced a federal bill to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) altogether.
It’s all part of a coordinated effort to bankrupt gun companies through litigation, not because they’ve done anything illegal, but simply because criminals exist.
Let’s clear something up right now: The PLCAA does not give the gun industry blanket immunity. If a firearm manufacturer violates the law, markets their product for illegal use, or fails to follow reasonable industry practices, manufacturers something with a defect, they can absolutely be sued and held liable.
What the PLCAA does is stop frivolous lawsuits that try to blame a gun company for what a murderer did—no different than suing Toyota because someone drove drunk, or suing Louisville Slugger because someone got beat with a baseball bat.
How the Anti-Gun Left Wants It to Work
Imagine if other industries were held to the same insane standard:
- Knife companies sued every time someone gets stabbed.
- Bic sued for every arson involving one of their lighters.
- Ford sued when a getaway car is used in a bank robbery.
- Apple sued because a terrorist texted someone before an attack.
It’s absurd on its face. We don’t sue manufacturers for how people choose to misuse otherwise lawful products. But when it comes to firearms, anti-gun politicians want a special exception.
Here is a quote from the Everytown For Gun Safety website, which is a long-time anti-gun lobbyist group:
PLCAA blocks legal responsibility for gun manufacturers that have failed to innovate and make guns safer, and for manufacturers, distributors and dealers with irresponsible, reckless and negligent sales practices that contribute to the flood of illegal firearms in our communities.
How silly is that? The PLCAA doesn't protect manufacturers, distributors, and dealers from liability when they break the law. So I'm left to assume that following the current laws, which I feel are burdensome, Everytown for Gun Safety perceives to be reckless. I would love to hear what they think a dealer or gun maker should be doing above and beyond the extreme regulation they are already subjected to.
They know they can’t ban guns outright, so their plan is to drown the industry in lawsuits. That’s what Connecticut just did by allowing state officials and private citizens to sue gunmakers, even when those gunmakers have followed every law and regulation.
Why the PLCAA Matters
Passed in 2005 with bipartisan support, the PLCAA was never meant to protect bad actors. It was written to protect legitimate manufacturers and dealers from being destroyed by activist litigation.
It allows the American firearms industry to continue providing tools for self-defense, hunting, and sport shooting, without being sued into oblivion because of what criminals do.
The Mexican government’s lawsuit, recently rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, was a perfect example. They wanted American gunmakers to be held liable for their own cartel violence, even though the guns were trafficked illegally and the manufacturers followed U.S. law.
If allowed to proceed, it could’ve opened the floodgates for every foreign government—and domestic anti-gun group—to sue gunmakers out of existence.
The Bottom Line
The gun control lobby’s end game isn’t about safety—it’s about eliminating the firearms industry. If they can’t regulate it out of existence, they’ll try to litigate it out.
The PLCAA remains one of the few remaining shields protecting law-abiding businesses from being punished for the actions of criminals. And that’s why it’s constantly under attack.
Dictatorships start to come to the surface when personal firearms ownership is outlawed. Our Country has a long and honorable history of citizens keeping personal firearms for many reasons, such as personal and family safety, hunting, marksmanship development and even national safety. Look at what happened in the USSR, Third Reich, Castro’s Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and many, many other countries where firearms ownership was legislated out of existence and the Government assumed all powers on Earth and in Heaven oner defenseless citizens. Human rights ceased to exist. Only the rights of the Government existed in any and all instances. People lived until such time as the Government decided that they shouldn’t. And the reasons for ending lives were illogical in all cases – religion, race, ethnic origin, traditional hatreds, etc. No reasons for eliminating people were ever valid but countless millions of people have died based on unfounded Government life or death decisions simply because they had no way to fight back and preserve their lives, families and human rights from Governments gone over the edge on power.