‘‘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 unlaw-
ful misuse of firearm products or ammunition prod-
ucts by others when the product functioned as de-
signed and intended.’’. 
(2) The intent of the PLCAA was to bar a nar-
row category of lawsuits holding gun industry enti-
ties 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 court-
house doors to victims who have been harmed by the 
negligence or misdeeds of anyone in the gun indus-
try. . . . 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 manufactur-
ers 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 
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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 indus-
tries in the United States. 
(7) As Congress intended in the PLCAA, the 
firearm industry should not be held liable solely be-
cause a product they made or sold was used in 
crime, if those companies did not engage in neg-
ligent or otherwise tortious conduct. However, as 
Congress also intended in the PLCAA, State or Fed-
eral courts should not be barred from applying State 
common or statutory law to impose liability on in-
dustry participants who, through their negligent con-
duct 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 per-
cent of firearms dealers sell 57 percent of crime 
guns, the overwhelming majority of dealers need no 
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special protection from liability for damages result-
ing 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 adop-
tion 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 fol-
lows: 
(1) To ensure that those injured by firearms 
have access to the same civil remedies as those in-
jured 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. 
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SEC. 3. EQUAL ACCESS TO CIVIL REMEDIES FOR VICTIMS 
OF GUN VIOLENCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—An action against a manufac-
turer, seller, or trade association for damages or relief re-
sulting 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 crimi-
nal, unlawful, or volitional use of a qualified product. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In subsection (a), the terms 
‘‘manufacturer’’, ‘‘seller’’, ‘‘trade association’’, and ‘‘quali-
fied 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 enact-
ment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. DISCOVERABILITY AND ADMISSIBILITY OF GUN 
TRACE 
INFORMATION 
IN 
CIVIL 
PRO-
CEEDINGS. 
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 
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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. 
Æ 
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