H.R. 800 Passes Out Of House Judiciary Committee

On Wednesday, May 25, the House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 800 (the House version of the "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,") by a vote of 22-12 and ALL proposed anti-gun amendments were defeated!  
 
Commenting on the legislation, the bill's cosponsor, Representative Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.),  reiterated one of the core tenets of this common sense bill:  "This measure provides protection only against lawsuits based on the criminal or unlawful acts of third parties--not against their own negligent or criminal conduct.  Under this measure, manufacturers or sellers must operate entirely within federal and state law and are still liable for acts of negligence and for defective products."
 
And Representative Rick Boucher (D-Va.), the Democratic cosponsor, voiced the opinion that there is no reason to allow the lawsuits to continue.  "The effort of cities to sue gun manufacturers because someone misuses a firearm is nothing but an attempt to impose gun control by judicial means."
 
H.R. 800 enjoys strong bipartisan support and currently has 255 cosponsors.  The legislation will now move to the House floor for a vote.  We will keep you posted as the vote is scheduled.
 
To help keep this momentum going, it is imperative that you continue to contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and urge them to support and cosponsor H.R. 800 and its Senate counterpart, S. 397--without any anti-gun amendments.
 
To access the most up-to-date information on this issue, and to find out if your lawmaker is a cosponsor, please go to the "Help Save America's Firearms Industry" heading at www.NRAILA.org.  This function will allow you to easily send an e-mail or letter to your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators.  Please forward this link to your family, friends, and fellow firearm owners.
 
For additional information on effectively communicating with your lawmakers, please go to:  http://www.nraila.org/CurrentLegislation/ActionAlerts/Read.aspx?ID=274 (Grassroots Alert, Vol. 12, No. 12).