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.
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 ‘‘Firearms Rights, Re-
sponsibilities, and Remedies Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) the manufacture, distribution, and importa-
tion of firearms is inherently commercial in nature;
(2) firearms regularly move in interstate com-
merce;
(3) firearms trafficking is so prevalent and
widespread in and among the States that it is usu-
ally impossible to distinguish between intrastate
trafficking and interstate trafficking;
(4) to the extent firearms trafficking is intra-
state in nature, it arises out of and is substantially
connected with a commercial transaction, which,
when viewed in the aggregate, substantially affects
interstate commerce;
(5) gun violence results in great costs to soci-
ety, including the costs of law enforcement, medical
care, lost productivity, and loss of life;
(6) to the extent possible, the costs of gun vio-
lence should be borne by those liable for them, in-
cluding manufacturers, dealers, and importers;
(7) in any action to recover the costs associated
with gun violence to a particular entity or to a given
community, it is usually impossible to trace the por-
tion of costs attributable to intrastate versus inter-
state commerce;
(8) the law governing the liability of manufac-
turers, dealers, and importers for gun violence is
evolving inconsistently within and among the States,
(1) regulating the commercial activity of fire-
arms trafficking;
(2) protecting States, units of local government,
organizations, businesses, and other persons from
the adverse effects of interstate commerce in fire-
arms;
(3) establishing a uniform legal principle that
manufacturers, dealers, and importers can be held
liable for gun violence; and
(4) creating greater fairness, rationality, and
predictability in the civil justice system.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) GUN VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘gun violence’’
means any—
(A) actual or threatened unlawful use of a
firearm; and
(B) unintentional discharge of a firearm.
(2) INCORPORATED DEFINITIONS.—The terms
‘‘firearm’’, ‘‘importer’’, ‘‘manufacturer’’, and ‘‘deal-
er’’ have the meanings given those terms in section
921 of title 18, United States Code.
(3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means 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.
(4) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term
‘‘unit of local government’’ means any city, town,
township, county, parish, village, or other general
purpose political subdivision of a State.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of Federal, State, or local law, a State, unit of local
government, organization, business, or other person that
has been injured by or incurred costs as a result of gun
violence may bring a civil action in a Federal or State
court of original jurisdiction against a manufacturer, deal-
er, or importer who knew or reasonably should have known
that its design, manufacturing, marketing, importation,
sales, or distribution practices would likely result in gun
violence.
(b) REMEDIES.—In an action under subsection (a),
the court may award appropriate relief, including—
(1) actual damages;
(2) punitive damages;
(3) reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litiga-
tion costs reasonably incurred, including the costs of
expert witnesses; and
(4) such other relief as the court determines to
be appropriate.
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