S. 397

One Hundred Ninth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the fourth day of January, two thousand and five

An Act

To prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued against manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms or ammunition for damages,

injunctive or other relief resulting from the misuse of their products by others.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protection of Lawful Commerce

in Arms Act’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

(1) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that the right of the people to keep and bear

arms shall not be infringed.

(2) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the rights of individuals, including those who

are not members of a militia or engaged in military service

or training, to keep and bear arms.

(3) Lawsuits have been commenced against manufacturers,

distributors, dealers, and importers of firearms that operate

as designed and intended, which seek money damages and

other relief for the harm caused by the misuse of firearms

by third parties, including criminals.

(4) The manufacture, importation, possession, sale, and

use of firearms and ammunition in the United States are

heavily regulated by Federal, State, and local laws. Such Federal laws include the Gun Control Act of 1968, the National

Firearms Act, and the Arms Export Control Act.

(5) Businesses in the United States that are engaged in

interstate and foreign commerce through the lawful design,

manufacture, marketing, distribution, importation, or sale to

the public of firearms or ammunition products that have been

shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce are

not, and should not, be liable for the harm caused by those

who criminally or unlawfully misuse firearm products or

ammunition products that function as designed and intended.

(6) The possibility of imposing liability on an entire

industry for harm that is solely caused by others is an abuse

of the legal system, erodes public confidence in our Nation’s

laws, threatens the diminution of a basic constitutional right

and civil liberty, invites the disassembly and destabilization

of other industries and economic sectors lawfully competing
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in the free enterprise system of the United States, and constitutes an unreasonable burden on interstate and foreign commerce of the United States.

(7) The liability actions commenced or contemplated by

the Federal Government, States, municipalities, and private

interest groups and others are based on theories without

foundation in hundreds of years of the common law and jurisprudence of the United States and do not represent a bona

fide expansion of the common law. The possible sustaining

of these actions by a maverick judicial officer or petit jury

would expand civil liability in a manner never contemplated

by the framers of the Constitution, by Congress, or by the

legislatures of the several States. Such an expansion of liability

would constitute a deprivation of the rights, privileges, and

immunities guaranteed to a citizen of the United States under

the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

(8) The liability actions commenced or contemplated by

the Federal Government, States, municipalities, private interest

groups and others attempt to use the judicial branch to circumvent the Legislative branch of government to regulate interstate and foreign commerce through judgments and judicial

decrees thereby threatening the Separation of Powers doctrine

and weakening and undermining important principles of federalism, State sovereignty and comity between the sister States.

(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as follows:

(1) To prohibit 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) To preserve a citizen’s access to a supply of firearms

and ammunition for all lawful purposes, including hunting,

self-defense, collecting, and competitive or recreational

shooting.

(3) To guarantee a citizen’s rights, privileges, and immunities, as applied to the States, under the Fourteenth Amendment

to the United States Constitution, pursuant to section 5 of

that Amendment.

(4) To prevent the use of such lawsuits to impose unreasonable burdens on interstate and foreign commerce.

(5) To protect the right, under the First Amendment to

the Constitution, of manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and

importers of firearms or ammunition products, and trade

associations, to speak freely, to assemble peaceably, and to

petition the Government for a redress of their grievances.

(6) To preserve and protect the Separation of Powers doctrine and important principles of federalism, State sovereignty

and comity between sister States.

(7) To exercise congressional power under article IV, section

1 (the Full Faith and Credit Clause) of the United States

Constitution.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON BRINGING OF QUALIFIED CIVIL LIABILITY

ACTIONS IN FEDERAL OR STATE COURT.

(a) IN GENERAL.—A qualified civil liability action may not be

brought in any Federal or State court.
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(b) DISMISSAL OF PENDING ACTIONS.—A qualified civil liability

action that is pending on the date of enactment of this Act shall

be immediately dismissed by the court in which the action was

brought or is currently pending.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘engaged in the

business’’ has the meaning given that term in section 921(a)(21)

of title 18, United States Code, and, as applied to a seller

of ammunition, means a person who devotes time, attention,

and labor to the sale of ammunition as a regular course of

trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and

profit through the sale or distribution of ammunition.

(2) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufacturer’’ means,

with respect to a qualified product, a person who is engaged

in the business of manufacturing the product in interstate

or foreign commerce and who is licensed to engage in business

as such a manufacturer under chapter 44 of title 18, United

States Code.

(3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any individual, corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, joint

stock company, or any other entity, including any governmental

entity.

(4) QUALIFIED PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘qualified product’’

means a firearm (as defined in subparagraph (A) or (B) of

section 921(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code), including

any antique firearm (as defined in section 921(a)(16) of such

title), or ammunition (as defined in section 921(a)(17)(A) of

such title), or a component part of a firearm or ammunition,

that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign

commerce.

(5) QUALIFIED CIVIL LIABILITY ACTION.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified civil liability

action’’ means a civil action or proceeding or an administrative proceeding brought by any person against a manufacturer or seller of a qualified product, or a trade association,

for damages, punitive damages, injunctive or declaratory

relief, abatement, restitution, fines, or penalties, or other

relief, resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of

a qualified product by the person or a third party, but

shall not include— (i) an action brought against a transferor convicted

under section 924(h) of title 18, United States Code,

or a comparable or identical State felony law, by a

party directly harmed by the conduct of which the

transferee is so convicted;

(ii) an action brought against a seller for negligent

entrustment or negligence per se;

(iii) an action in which a manufacturer or seller

of a qualified product knowingly violated a State or

Federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing

of the product, and the violation was a proximate cause

of the harm for which relief is sought, including—

(I) any case in which the manufacturer or

seller knowingly made any false entry in, or failed

to make appropriate entry in, any record required
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to be kept under Federal or State law with respect

to the qualified product, or aided, abetted, or conspired with any person in making any false or

fictitious oral or written statement with respect

to any fact material to the lawfulness of the sale

or other disposition of a qualified product; or

(II) any case in which the manufacturer or

seller aided, abetted, or conspired with any other

person to sell or otherwise dispose of a qualified

product, knowing, or having reasonable cause to

believe, that the actual buyer of the qualified

product was prohibited from possessing or

receiving a firearm or ammunition under subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United

States Code;

(iv) an action for breach of contract or warranty

in connection with the purchase of the product;

(v) an action for death, physical injuries or property damage resulting directly from a defect in design

or manufacture of the product, when used as intended

or in a reasonably foreseeable manner, except that

where the discharge of the product was caused by

a volitional act that constituted a criminal offense,

then such act shall be considered the sole proximate

cause of any resulting death, personal injuries or property damage; or

(vi) an action or proceeding commenced by the

Attorney General to enforce the provisions of chapter

44 of title 18 or chapter 53 of title 26, United States

Code.

(B) NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT.—As used in subparagraph (A)(ii), the term ‘‘negligent entrustment’’ means the

supplying of a qualified product by a seller for use by

another person when the seller knows, or reasonably should

know, the person to whom the product is supplied is likely

to, and does, use the product in a manner involving

unreasonable risk of physical injury to the person or others.

(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The exceptions enumerated under clauses (i) through (v) of subparagraph (A)

shall be construed so as not to be in conflict, and no

provision of this Act shall be construed to create a public

or private cause of action or remedy.

(D) MINOR CHILD EXCEPTION.—Nothing in this Act shall

be construed to limit the right of a person under 17 years

of age to recover damages authorized under Federal or

State law in a civil action that meets 1 of the requirements

under clauses (i) through (v) of subparagraph (A).

(6) SELLER.—The term ‘‘seller’’ means, with respect to a

qualified product—

(A) an importer (as defined in section 921(a)(9) of title

18, United States Code) who is engaged in the business

as such an importer in interstate or foreign commerce

and who is licensed to engage in business as such an

importer under chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code;

(B) a dealer (as defined in section 921(a)(11) of title

18, United States Code) who is engaged in the business

as such a dealer in interstate or foreign commerce and
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who is licensed to engage in business as such a dealer

under chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code; or

(C) a person engaged in the business of selling

ammunition (as defined in section 921(a)(17)(A) of title

18, United States Code) in interstate or foreign commerce

at the wholesale or retail level.

(7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes each of the several

States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United

States, and any political subdivision of any such place.

(8) TRADE ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘‘trade association’’

means—

(A) any corporation, unincorporated association, federation, business league, professional or business organization

not organized or operated for profit and no part of the

net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private

shareholder or individual;

(B) that is an organization described in section 501(c)(6)

of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from

tax under section 501(a) of such Code; and

(C) 2 or more members of which are manufacturers

or sellers of a qualified product.

(9) UNLAWFUL MISUSE.—The term ‘‘unlawful misuse’’ means

conduct that violates a statute, ordinance, or regulation as

it relates to the use of a qualified product.

SEC. 5. CHILD SAFETY LOCKS.

(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the ‘‘Child

Safety Lock Act of 2005’’.

(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are—

(1) to promote the safe storage and use of handguns by

consumers;

(2) to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access

to or use of a handgun, including children who may not be

in possession of a handgun; and

(3) to avoid hindering industry from supplying firearms

to law abiding citizens for all lawful purposes, including

hunting, self-defense, collecting, and competitive or recreational

shooting.

(c) FIREARMS SAFETY.—

(1) MANDATORY TRANSFER OF SECURE GUN STORAGE OR

SAFETY DEVICE.—Section 922 of title 18, United States Code,

is amended by inserting at the end the following:

‘‘(z) SECURE GUN STORAGE OR SAFETY DEVICE.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under paragraph

(2), it shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed

manufacturer, or licensed dealer to sell, deliver, or transfer

any handgun to any person other than any person licensed

under this chapter, unless the transferee is provided with a

secure gun storage or safety device (as defined in section

921(a)(34)) for that handgun.

‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to—

‘‘(A)(i) the manufacture for, transfer to, or possession

by, the United States, a department or agency of the United
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States, a State, or a department, agency, or political subdivision of a State, of a handgun; or

‘‘(ii) the transfer to, or possession by, a law enforcement

officer employed by an entity referred to in clause (i) of

a handgun for law enforcement purposes (whether on or

off duty); or

‘‘(B) the transfer to, or possession by, a rail police

officer employed by a rail carrier and certified or commissioned as a police officer under the laws of a State of

a handgun for purposes of law enforcement (whether on

or off duty);

‘‘(C) the transfer to any person of a handgun listed

as a curio or relic by the Secretary pursuant to section

921(a)(13); or

‘‘(D) the transfer to any person of a handgun for which

a secure gun storage or safety device is temporarily unavailable for the reasons described in the exceptions stated

in section 923(e), if the licensed manufacturer, licensed

importer, or licensed dealer delivers to the transferee

within 10 calendar days from the date of the delivery

of the handgun to the transferee a secure gun storage

or safety device for the handgun.

‘‘(3) LIABILITY FOR USE.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who has lawful possession and control

of a handgun, and who uses a secure gun storage or safety

device with the handgun, shall be entitled to immunity

from a qualified civil liability action.

‘‘(B) PROSPECTIVE ACTIONS.—A qualified civil liability

action may not be brought in any Federal or State court.

‘‘(C) DEFINED TERM.—As used in this paragraph, the

term ‘qualified civil liability action’—

‘‘(i) means a civil action brought by any person

against a person described in subparagraph (A) for

damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful

misuse of the handgun by a third party, if—

‘‘(I) the handgun was accessed by another person who did not have the permission or authorization of the person having lawful possession and

control of the handgun to have access to it; and

‘‘(II) at the time access was gained by the

person not so authorized, the handgun had been

made inoperable by use of a secure gun storage

or safety device; and

‘‘(ii) shall not include an action brought against

the person having lawful possession and control of

the handgun for negligent entrustment or negligence

per se.’’.

(2) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 924 of title 18, United States

Code, is amended—

(A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘or (f)’’ and inserting

‘‘(f), or (p)’’; and

(B) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(p) PENALTIES RELATING TO SECURE GUN STORAGE OR SAFETY

DEVICE.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—
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‘‘(A) SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF LICENSE; CIVIL

PENALTIES.—With respect to each violation of section

922(z)(1) by a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer,

or licensed dealer, the Secretary may, after notice and

opportunity for hearing—

‘‘(i) suspend for not more than 6 months, or revoke,

the license issued to the licensee under this chapter

that was used to conduct the firearms transfer; or

‘‘(ii) subject the licensee to a civil penalty in an

amount equal to not more than $2,500.

‘‘(B) REVIEW.—An action of the Secretary under this

paragraph may be reviewed only as provided under section

923(f).

‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES.—The suspension or revocation of a license or the imposition of a civil penalty under

paragraph (1) shall not preclude any administrative remedy

that is otherwise available to the Secretary.’’.

(3) LIABILITY; EVIDENCE.—

(A) LIABILITY.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to—

(i) create a cause of action against any Federal

firearms licensee or any other person for any civil

liability; or

(ii) establish any standard of care.

(B) EVIDENCE.—Notwithstanding any other provision

of law, evidence regarding compliance or noncompliance

with the amendments made by this section shall not be

admissible as evidence in any proceeding of any court,

agency, board, or other entity, except with respect to an

action relating to section 922(z) of title 18, United States

Code, as added by this subsection.

(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to bar a governmental action

to impose a penalty under section 924(p) of title 18, United

States Code, for a failure to comply with section 922(z)

of that title.

(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amendments made

by this section shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment

of this Act.

SEC. 6. ARMOR PIERCING AMMUNITION.

(a) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—Section 922(a) of title 18, United States

Code, is amended by striking paragraphs (7) and (8) and inserting

the following:

‘‘(7) for any person to manufacture or import armor piercing

ammunition, unless—

‘‘(A) the manufacture of such ammunition is for the

use of the United States, any department or agency of

the United States, any State, or any department, agency,

or political subdivision of a State;

‘‘(B) the manufacture of such ammunition is for the

purpose of exportation; or

‘‘(C) the manufacture or importation of such ammunition is for the purpose of testing or experimentation and

has been authorized by the Attorney General;

‘‘(8) for any manufacturer or importer to sell or deliver

armor piercing ammunition, unless such sale or delivery—
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‘‘(A) is for the use of the United States, any department

or agency of the United States, any State, or any department, agency, or political subdivision of a State;

‘‘(B) is for the purpose of exportation; or

‘‘(C) is for the purpose of testing or experimentation

and has been authorized by the Attorney General;’’.

(b) PENALTIES.—Section 924(c) of title 18, United States Code,

is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(5) Except to the extent that a greater minimum sentence

is otherwise provided under this subsection, or by any other provision of law, any person who, during and in relation to any crime

of violence or drug trafficking crime (including a crime of violence

or drug trafficking crime that provides for an enhanced punishment

if committed by the use of a deadly or dangerous weapon or device)

for which the person may be prosecuted in a court of the United

States, uses or carries armor piercing ammunition, or who, in

furtherance of any such crime, possesses armor piercing ammunition, shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such crime

of violence or drug trafficking crime or conviction under this

section—

‘‘(A) be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less

than 15 years; and

‘‘(B) if death results from the use of such ammunition—

‘‘(i) if the killing is murder (as defined in section 1111),

be punished by death or sentenced to a term of imprisonment for any term of years or for life; and

‘‘(ii) if the killing is manslaughter (as defined in section

1112), be punished as provided in section 1112.’’.

(c) STUDY AND REPORT.—

(1) STUDY.—The Attorney General shall conduct a study

to determine whether a uniform standard for the testing of

projectiles against Body Armor is feasible.

(2) ISSUES TO BE STUDIED.—The study conducted under

paragraph (1) shall include—

(A) variations in performance that are related to the

length of the barrel of the handgun or center-fire rifle

from which the projectile is fired; and

(B) the amount of powder used to propel the projectile.

(3) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit a report

containing the results of the study conducted under this subsection to—

(A) the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and
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(B) the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.