I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H.R. 1233

To regulate interstate commerce by providing a Federal cause of action

against firearms manufacturers, dealers, and importers for the harm

resulting from gun violence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 23, 1999

Mrs. LOWEY (for herself and Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York) introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the

Judiciary

A BILL

To regulate interstate commerce by providing a Federal

cause of action against firearms manufacturers, dealers,

and importers for the harm resulting from gun violence.

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 ‘‘Firearms Rights, Re5 sponsibilities, and Remedies Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) the manufacture, distribution, and importa9 tion of firearms is inherently commercial in nature;
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1 (2) firearms regularly move in interstate com2 merce;

3 (3) firearms trafficking is so prevalent and

4 widespread in and among the States that it is usu5 ally impossible to distinguish between intrastate

6 trafficking and interstate trafficking;

7 (4) to the extent firearms trafficking is intra8 state in nature, it arises out of and is substantially

9 connected with a commercial transaction, which,

10 when viewed in the aggregate, substantially affects

11 interstate commerce;

12 (5) gun violence results in great costs to soci13 ety, including the costs of law enforcement, medical

14 care, lost productivity, and loss of life;

15 (6) to the extent possible, the costs of gun vio16 lence should be borne by those liable for them, in17 cluding manufacturers, dealers, and importers;

18 (7) in any action to recover the costs associated

19 with gun violence to a particular entity or to a given

20 community, it is usually impossible to trace the por21 tion of costs attributable to intrastate versus inter22 state commerce;

23 (8) the law governing the liability of manufac24 turers, dealers, and importers for gun violence is

25 evolving inconsistently within and among the States,
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1 resulting in a contradictory and uncertain regime

2 that is inequitable and that unduly burdens inter3 state commerce;

4 (9) the inability to obtain adequate compensa5 tion for the costs of gun violence results in a serious

6 commercial distortion to a single national market

7 and a stable national economy, thereby creating a

8 barrier to interstate commerce;

9 (10) it is an essential and appropriate role of

10 the Federal Government, under the Constitution of

11 the United States, to remove burdens and barriers

12 to interstate commerce;

13 (11) because the intrastate and interstate traf14 ficking of firearms are so commingled, full regula15 tion of interstate commerce requires the incidental

16 regulation of intrastate commerce; and

17 (12) it is in the national interest and within the

18 role of the Federal Government to ensure that man19 ufacturers, dealers, and importers can be held liable

20 under Federal law for gun violence.

21 (b) PURPOSE.—Based on the power of Congress in

22 clause 3 of section 8 of article I of the Constitution of

23 the United States, the purpose of this Act is to regulate

24 interstate commerce by—
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1 (1) regulating the commercial activity of fire2 arms trafficking;

3 (2) protecting States, units of local government,

4 organizations, businesses, and other persons from

5 the adverse effects of interstate commerce in fire6 arms;

7 (3) establishing a uniform legal principle that

8 manufacturers, dealers, and importers can be held

9 liable for gun violence; and

10 (4) creating greater fairness, rationality, and

11 predictability in the civil justice system.

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

13 In this Act:

14 (1) GUN VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘gun violence’’

15 means any—

16 (A) actual or threatened unlawful use of a

17 firearm; and

18 (B) unintentional discharge of a firearm.

19 (2) INCORPORATED DEFINITIONS.—The terms

20 ‘‘firearm’’, ‘‘importer’’, ‘‘manufacturer’’, and ‘‘deal21 er’’ have the meanings given those terms in section

22 921 of title 18, United States Code.

23 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

24 the several States of the United States, the District

25 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the
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1 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the

2 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

3 (4) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term

4 ‘‘unit of local government’’ means any city, town,

5 township, county, parish, village, or other general

6 purpose political subdivision of a State.

7 SEC. 4. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi9 sion of Federal, State, or local law, a State, unit of local

10 government, organization, business, or other person that

11 has been injured by or incurred costs as a result of gun

12 violence may bring a civil action in a Federal or State

13 court of original jurisdiction against a manufacturer, deal14 er, or importer who knew or reasonably should have known

15 that its design, manufacturing, marketing, importation,

16 sales, or distribution practices would likely result in gun

17 violence.

18 (b) REMEDIES.—In an action under subsection (a),

19 the court may award appropriate relief, including—

20 (1) actual damages;

21 (2) punitive damages;

22 (3) reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litiga23 tion costs reasonably incurred, including the costs of

24 expert witnesses; and
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1 (4) such other relief as the court determines to

2 be appropriate.

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