Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act

Summary: Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act - Prohibits a court from dismissing an action against a manufacturer, seller, or trade association for damages or relief resulting from an alleged defect or negligence with respect to a product, or conduct that would be actionable under state common or statutory law in the absence of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, on the basis that the action is for damages or relief from the criminal, unlawful, or volitional use of a qualified product. Makes the contents of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the National Trace Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) subject to subpoena or other discovery and admissible as evidence. Permits such contents to be used, relied on, or disclosed, and permits testimony or other evidence to be based on the data, on the same basis as other information in a civil action in any state or federal court or in an administrative proceeding.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Equal Access to Justice for Victims 
of Gun Violence Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (in this 
        subsection referred to as the ``PLCAA'') was enacted with the 
        express purpose of prohibiting ``causes of action against 
        manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and importers of firearms 
        or ammunition products, and their trade associations, for the 
        harm solely caused by the criminal or unlawful misuse of 
        firearm products or ammunition products by others when the 
        product functioned as designed and intended.''.
            (2) The intent of the PLCAA was to bar a narrow category of 
        lawsuits holding gun industry entities liable for damages 
        solely on the basis of selling a product that was used in 
        crime.
            (3) The chief sponsor of PLCAA stated during floor debate, 
        ``This legislation will not bar the courthouse doors to victims 
        who have been harmed by the negligence or misdeeds of anyone in 
        the gun industry. . . . If manufacturers or dealers break the 
        law or commit negligence, they are still liable.''.
            (4) It was not the intent of the Congress in the PLCAA to 
        protect gun or ammunition manufacturers or sellers who failed 
        to exercise reasonable care for health and safety in the 
        design, marketing, and sale of their products.
            (5) Federal and State courts have read the PLCAA contrary 
        to its intent, and dismissed civil lawsuits based on 
        negligence, product defect, and other causes of action that are 
        well established in statute and common law principles.
            (6) This special protection from civil liability enjoyed by 
        the firearm industry is not only contrary to the congressional 
        intent of the PLCAA, but also contrary to public safety, and 
        unique among industries in the United States.
            (7) As Congress intended in the PLCAA, the firearm industry 
        should not be held liable solely because a product they made or 
        sold was used in crime, if those companies did not engage in 
        negligent or otherwise tortious conduct. However, as Congress 
        also intended in the PLCAA, State or Federal courts should not 
        be barred from applying State common or statutory law to impose 
        liability on industry participants who, through their negligent 
        conduct or defective product, cause an injury in which unlawful 
        activity was also a cause.
            (8) As most firearms dealers are responsible businesspeople 
        who do not engage in negligent sales practices, 86 percent of 
        firearms dealers sell no guns that are subsequently used in 
        crimes, and 1.2 percent of firearms dealers sell 57 percent of 
        crime guns, the overwhelming majority of dealers need no 
        special protection from liability for damages resulting from 
        the criminal use of guns.
            (9) Allowing victims of gun violence to pursue civil 
        actions in State and Federal courts against the firearm 
        industry on the basis of negligent behavior serves the 
        interests of justice and fosters the adoption of responsible 
        business practices likely to reduce the incidence of firearm 
        deaths.
            (10) The Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens 
        are not infringed by allowing State and Federal courts to 
        impose generally applicable principles of civil justice law to 
        negligent industry participants.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To ensure that those injured by firearms have access to 
        the same civil remedies as those injured by any other product 
        and are not restricted from bringing suits based on statutes 
        and common law theories of liability in State and Federal 
        court.
            (2) To allow plaintiffs to discover and introduce evidence, 
        including gun trace evidence, into State and Federal courts 
        where appropriate.

SEC. 3. EQUAL ACCESS TO CIVIL REMEDIES FOR VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE.

    (a) In General.--An action against a manufacturer, seller, or trade 
association for damages or relief resulting from an alleged defect or 
alleged negligence with respect to a product, or conduct that would be 
actionable under State common or statutory law in the absence of the 
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, shall not be dismissed by a 
court on the basis that the action is for damages resulting from, or 
for relief from, the criminal, unlawful, or volitional use of a 
qualified product.
    (b) Definitions.--In subsection (a), the terms ``manufacturer'', 
``seller'', ``trade association'', and ``qualified product'' shall have 
the meanings given the terms in section 4 of the Protection of Lawful 
Commerce in Arms Act.
    (c) Applicability.--Subsection (a) shall apply to actions brought 
before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. DISCOVERABILITY AND ADMISSIBILITY OF GUN TRACE INFORMATION IN 
              CIVIL PROCEEDINGS.

    The contents of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by 
the National Trace Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 
and Explosives shall not be immune from legal process, shall be subject 
to subpoena or other discovery, shall be admissible as evidence, and 
may be used, relied on, or disclosed in any manner, and testimony or 
other evidence may be permitted based on the data, on the same basis as 
other information, in a civil action in any State (including the 
District of Columbia) or Federal court or in an administrative 
proceeding.