I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 174

To provide for the manufacturer, importer, or dealer of a handgun or an

assault weapon to be held strictly liable for damages that result from

the use of the handgun or assault weapon.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for the manufacturer, importer, or dealer of a

handgun or an assault weapon to be held strictly liable

for damages that result from the use of the handgun

or assault weapon.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gun Violence Eco5 nomic Equity Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. CAUSE OF ACTION; FEDERAL JURISDICTION.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any person suffering bodily injury

8 or death as a result of the discharge of a handgun or an
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1 assault weapon may bring an action in any United States

2 district court against any permissible defendant for dam3 ages and such other relief as the court deems appropriate.

4 (b) PERMISSIBLE DEFENDANTS.—The following per5 sons are permissible defendants in an action brought

6 under subsection (a) with respect to a handgun or an as7 sault weapon:

8 (1) Any manufacturer of the handgun or as9 sault weapon.

10 (2) Any importer of the handgun or assault

11 weapon.

12 (3) Any dealer who transferred the handgun or

13 assault weapon.

14 SEC. 3. STRICT LIABILITY.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each defendant in an action

16 brought under section 2(a) shall be held strictly liable in

17 tort, without regard to fault or proof of defect, for all di18 rect and consequential damages that arise from bodily in19 jury or death proximately resulting from the discharge of

20 the handgun or assault weapon with respect to which the

21 defendant is a permissible defendant, except as provided

22 in subsection (b) of this section.

23 (b) DEFENSES.—

24 (1) INJURY WHILE COMMITTING A FELONY.—

25 There shall be no liability under subsection (a) if it
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1 is established by a preponderance of the evidence

2 that the plaintiff suffered the injury while commit3 ting a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term

4 exceeding 1 year.

5 (2) SELF-INFLICTED INJURY.—There shall be

6 no liability under subsection (a) if it is established

7 by a preponderance of the evidence that the plain8 tiff’s injury was self-inflicted.

9 (3) INJURY BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—

10 There shall be no liability under subsection (a) if it

11 is established by a preponderance of the evidence

12 that the injury was suffered as a result of the dis13 charge, by a law enforcement officer in the perform14 ance of official duties, of a handgun or assault weap15 on issued by the United States or any department

16 or agency thereof, or any State or any department,

17 agency, or political subdivision thereof.

18 (4) INJURY BY MEMBER OF THE UNITED

19 STATES ARMED FORCES.—There shall be no liability

20 under subsection (a) if it is established by a prepon21 derance of the evidence that the injury was suffered

22 as a result of the discharge, by a member of the

23 Armed Forces of the United States in the perform24 ance of military duties, of a handgun or assault
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1 weapon issued by the United States or any depart2 ment or agency thereof.

3 (c) AUTHORITY TO AWARD A REASONABLE ATTOR4 NEY’S FEE.—In an action brought under section 2(a), the

5 court may, in its discretion, allow the prevailing party a

6 reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.

7 SEC. 4. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.

8 An action may not be brought under section 2(a)

9 after the 2-year period that begins with the date the injury

10 described therein is discovered.

11 SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY.

12 This Act shall apply only to handguns and assault

13 weapons manufactured in, imported into, or transferred

14 in the United States, after the effective date of this Act.

15 SEC. 6. NO EFFECT ON OTHER CAUSES OF ACTION.

16 This Act shall not be construed to limit the scope of

17 any other cause of action available to a person injured as

18 a result of the discharge of a handgun or an assault weap19 on.

20 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

21 As used in this Act:

22 (1) HANDGUN.—The term ‘‘handgun’’ means a

23 firearm which, at the time of manufacture, had a

24 barrel of less than 12 inches in length.
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1 (2) ASSAULT WEAPON.—The term ‘‘assault

2 weapon’’ means—

3 (A) a firearm—

4 (i) which—

5 (I) has a barrel of 12 or more

6 inches in length; and

7 (II) is capable of receiving am8 munition directly from a large capac9 ity ammunition magazine; or

10 (ii) which is—

11 (I) a semiautomatic firearm; and

12 (II) not generally recognized as

13 particularly suitable for, or readily

14 adaptable to, sporting purposes; or

15 (B) a firearm which is substantially func16 tionally equivalent to a firearm described by

17 clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A).

18 (3) LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION MAGA19 ZINE.—The term ‘‘large capacity ammunition maga20 zine’’ means a detachable magazine, belt, drum, feed

21 strip, or similar device which has, or which can be

22 readily restored or converted to have, a capacity of

23 15 or more rounds of ammunition.

24 (4) SEMIAUTOMATIC FIREARM.—The term

25 ‘‘semiautomatic firearm’’ means any repeating fire-
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1 arm which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing

2 cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and

3 chamber the next round, and which requires a sepa4 rate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.

5 (5) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term

6 ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means any officer, agent,

7 or employee of the United States, or of a State or

8 political subdivision thereof, who is authorized by

9 law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detec10 tion, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of

11 law.

12 (6) OTHER TERMS.—The terms ‘‘firearm’’,

13 ‘‘importer’’, ‘‘manufacturer’’, and ‘‘dealer’’ shall

14 have the meanings given such terms, respectively, in

15 paragraphs (3), (9), (10), and (11) of section 921(a)

16 of title 18, United States Code.

17 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

18 This Act shall apply to conduct occurring after the

19 end of the 20-day period that begins with the date of the

20 enactment of this Act.

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