I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1036
To prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued against 
manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms or ammuni-
tion for damages resulting from the misuse of their products by others. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2003
Mr. STEARNS (for himself, Mr. JOHN, Ms. HART, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. 
PEARCE, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. LEWIS of Ken-
tucky, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mrs. 
CAPITO, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. FORBES, Mr. GOODE, Mr. ROGERS of Ala-
bama, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. BROWN 
of South Carolina, Mr. HILL, Mr. MICA, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. BUR-
GESS, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. TURNER of Ohio, Mr. 
MURPHY, Mr. HALL, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, 
Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. GERLACH, 
Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. PITTS, Mr. 
MCINNIS, Mr. AKIN, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. 
FOLEY, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. 
NETHERCUTT, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. NEY, Mr. WILSON of 
South Carolina, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. VITTER, Mr. 
CANNON, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. SCHROCK, 
Mr. ROSS, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. PETERSON of Min-
nesota, Mr. CRANE, Mr. HERGER, Mr. PENCE, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. 
CHOCOLA, Mr. BOYD, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. CARSON of Okla-
homa, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. KELLER, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. 
CUNNINGHAM, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. TERRY, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. 
CALVERT, Mr. WICKER, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. BUYER, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mr. 
DINGELL, Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. 
MATHESON, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. DAVIS of Ten-
nessee, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. BACA, Mr. WALDEN 
of Oregon, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. ISSA, Mr. 
DEMINT, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, 
Mr. WELLER, Mr. RENZI, Mr. UPTON, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. 
COBLE, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. BASS, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. 
SOUDER, Mr. BURR, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CANTOR, Mrs. 
MYRICK, Mr. BERRY, Mr. JANKLOW, Mr. TIBERI, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS 
of Virginia, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. TAYLOR of Mis-
sissippi, Mr. JENKINS, Mr. POMBO, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. CARTER, Mr.
NORWOOD, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. LUCAS 
of Oklahoma, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. KING of 
Iowa, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. NUNES, Mr. COX, Mr. 
OTTER, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. DELAY, Mr. KLINE, Mr. BARTLETT of Mary-
land, Mr. GRAVES, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire, 
Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. LINDER, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. 
CRAMER, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. HAYES, Mr. GORDON, Mr. 
CRENSHAW, Mr. FLETCHER, Mr. COLE, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. CARDOZA, 
Mr. WAMP, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. 
CULBERSON, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. 
OXLEY, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. 
LAHOOD, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. BARRETT 
of South Carolina, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. BONNER, Mr. HASTINGS of 
Washington, Mr. SWEENEY, Mr. REYES, Mr. WOLF, Mr. DAVIS of Ala-
bama, Mr. GOSS, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. 
LOBIONDO, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. HYDE, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mrs. 
EMERSON, Mr. SANDLIN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. REG-
ULA, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BAKER, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. 
TANNER, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. HARRIS, 
Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. DREIER, Mr. FEENEY, 
Mrs. BONO, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. 
PLATTS, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. CAMP, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. 
TURNER of Texas, Mr. OSE, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. WELDON 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
MOLLOHAN, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. COMBEST, Mr. CHABOT, Ms. GRANG-
ER, Mr. SHERWOOD, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. 
KELLY, Mr. BURNS, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. 
GILLMOR, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. PORTER, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. 
TIAHRT, and Mr. RYUN of Kansas) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or con-
tinued against manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or 
importers of firearms or ammunition for damages result-
ing from the misuse of their products by others.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Citizens have a right, protected by the Sec-
ond Amendment to the United States Constitution, 
to keep and bear arms. 
(2) 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 par-
ties, including criminals. 
(3) 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. 
(4) Businesses in the United States that are en-
gaged in interstate and foreign commerce through 
the lawful design, manufacture, marketing, distribu-
tion, importation, or sale to the public of firearms or 
ammunition that has 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. 
(5) The possibility of imposing liability on an 
entire industry for harm that is solely caused by oth-
ers is an abuse of the legal system, erodes public 
confidence in our Nation’s laws, threatens the dimi-
nution of a basic constitutional right and civil lib-
erty, invites the disassembly and destabilization of 
other industries and economic sectors lawfully com-
peting in the free enterprise system of the United 
States, and constitutes an unreasonable burden on 
interstate and foreign commerce of the United 
States. 
(6) The liability actions commenced or con-
templated by the Federal Government, States, mu-
nicipalities, and private interest groups 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 con-
templated by the Framers of the Constitution, by
the Congress, or by the legislatures of the several 
states. Such an expansion of liability would con-
stitute 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. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol-
lows: 
(1) To prohibit causes of action against manu-
facturers, distributors, dealers, and importers of 
firearms or ammunition products for the harm 
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, in-
cluding hunting, self-defense, collecting, and com-
petitive 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 Con-
stitution, pursuant to section 5 of that Amendment. 
(4) To prevent the use of such lawsuits to im-
pose 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. 
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. 
(b) DISMISSAL OF PENDING ACTIONS.—A qualified 
civil liability action that is pending on the date of the en-
actment of this Act shall be dismissed immediately by the 
court in which the action was brought. 
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 ammuni-
tion, 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 objec-
tive of livelihood and profit through the sale or dis-
tribution of ammunition. 
(2) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac-
turer’’ means, with respect to a qualified product, a 
person who is engaged in the business of manufac-
turing 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 subpara-
graph (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) of 
such title), or a component part of a firearm or am-
munition, 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
brought by any person against a manufacturer 
or seller of a qualified product, or a trade asso-
ciation, for damages 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 trans-
feror convicted under section 924(h) of 
title 18, United States Code, or a com-
parable 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 manufac-
turer or seller of a qualified product know-
ingly and willfully violated a State or Fed-
eral statute applicable to the sale or mar-
keting of the product, and the violation 
was a proximate cause of the harm for 
which relief is sought; 
(iv) an action for breach of contract 
or warranty in connection with the pur-
chase of the product; or
(v) an action for physical injuries or 
property damage resulting directly from a 
defect in design or manufacture of the 
product, when used as intended. 
(B) NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT.—In sub-
paragraph (A)(ii), the term ‘‘negligent entrust-
ment’’ means the supplying of a qualified prod-
uct by a seller for use by another person when 
the seller knows or should know the person to 
whom the product is supplied is likely to use 
the product, and in fact does use the product, 
in a manner involving unreasonable risk of 
physical injury to the person and others. 
(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 li-
censed to engage in business as such an im-
porter 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 who is li-
censed 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) of title 18, United States Code) in 
interstate or foreign commerce at the wholesale 
or retail level, consistent with Federal, State, 
and local law. 
(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 as-
sociation’’ means any association or business organi-
zation (whether or not incorporated under Federal 
or State law) that is not operated for profit, and 2 
or more members of which are manufacturers or 
sellers of a qualified product.
Æ