Alan M. Gottlieb, CCRKBA Chairman,
early last month applauded Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush for signing into law a
measure that prevents metropolitan
mayors in the Sunshine State from filing
frivolous lawsuits against the firearms
industry.
Gov. Bush signed the legislation May
1, making Florida the 26th state to pass
a law preventing these kinds of municipal
lawsuits.
Gottlieb called Gov. Bush’s action
“the right thing to do for Florida’s taxpayers.
“These lawsuits are costing residents
hundreds of thousands, if not millions,
of dollars to pursue. Not surprisingly,
they are being thrown out of court, almost
uniformly on the grounds that they
are not constitutional.â€
Gottlieb stated that, “Gov. Bush has
demonstrated the kind of common
sense for which the voters in Florida
elected him. By signing SB 412, he has
taken a reasonable step to prevent Florida
courts from being further clogged
by what have so far amounted to legal
publicity stunts against not only the gun
industry, but more importantly, against
the firearm rights of Florida citizens.â€
Congressman Virgil H. Goode, Jr. of
Virginia introduced a bill to repeal section
658 of Public Law 104-208, the Lautenberg
misdemeanor domestic abuse
gun ban enacted five years ago as part
of an appropriations measure. The Lautenberg
ban retroactively prohibits gun
possession for life to anyone who has
ever been convicted of or pled guilty to
a misdemeanor charge of domestic
abuse.
“Gun makers are expected to launch
a mainstream campaign this summer
with new print ads urging the public to
use gun locks,†reports Vanessa
O’Connell in The Wall Street Journal.
“The firearms industry,†continues
the article, “is providing ‘a new kind
of insurance policy,’ reads one of
the advertisements, from the National
Shooting Sports Foundation,
an industry trade group based in
Newtown, Connecticut. The ad
shows a picture of a home, alongside
a big picture of a gun lock.
Anti-gun Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of
New York introduced H. Con. Res.
129, stating that “a Million Mom
March Day should be established to
pay tribute to the victims of gun
trauma and to celebrate the Million
Mom March.†Referred to the House
Committee on Government Reform,
it also would stipulate that “the
President should issue a proclamation
calling upon the people of the
United States to observe such a day
with appropriate programs and activities.â€
Joining Congresswoman
McCarthy as a cosponsor of the
measure was anti-gun Delegate Eleanor
Holmes Norton of the District
of Columbia.
Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia, a
CCRKBA Legislator of the Year
Awardee, has requested congressional
oversight hearings on the
merits of an ongoing investigation
by the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) against U.S. gun manufacturers
and distributors. Congressman
Barr made this formal request in letters
to Chairman James Sensenbrenner
of the House Judiciary
Committee and also Chairman Dan
Burton of the House Government
Reform Committee. Barr also has written
the Bush Administration to have it
call off the attacks.
“The Federal Trade Commission is
improperly and aggressively pursuing
an investigation of gun manufacturers,â€
Barr wrote. “This investigation hinges
on absurd charges that gun manufacturers
and retailers illegally conspired to
harm Smith and Wesson (S&W) in retaliation
for the company’s attempts to
settle firearms litigation.â€
Smith & Wesson entered into an
agreement with the Clinton-Gore Administration
last year that severely restricted
its ability to do business, according
to Barr. The terms of the
agreement, however, bound any other
firearm manufacturers or dealers that
might have dealings with S&W to the
terms of the agreement, even though
they did not agree to the Clinton-Gore
Administration terms. This led, indicated
Barr, to some companies concluding
they could not do business with
S&W.
“By continuing this action,†wrote
Barr, “especially with this level of vigor,
the FTC is pursuing a legallygroundless
claim that was conceived
solely as an attack on legal gun manufacturers
during the Clinton Administration.”
The Centers for Disease Control reported
30,708 so-called “gun relatedâ€
deaths – 11.4 per 100,000 people – in
1998, the latest year for which statistics
were available. The rate was down 26
percent from 1993, when there were
15.4 “gun related†deaths per 100,00
people.
The number of “gun-related†injuries
fell by nearly half during the same fiveyear
period, dropping to 64,484, or 23.9
per 100,000 people.
