IB 
Union Calendar No. 70 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 800 
[Report No. 109–124] 
To prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued against 
manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms or ammuni-
tion for damages or injunctive or other relief resulting from the misuse 
of their products by others. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 15, 2005 
Mr. STEARNS (for himself, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Ms. HART, 
Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. BASS, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. 
BLUNT, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. REYNOLDS, 
Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. 
TERRY, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. BAKER, Mr. BRADLEY of New Hamp-
shire, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. BOEHNER, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. MCHUGH, 
Mr. SOUDER, Mr. WICKER, Mr. CANNON, Mr. BOYD, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, 
Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. DAVIS 
of Kentucky, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. BACA, Mr. 
TANNER, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. MICHAUD, 
Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. BERRY, Mr. TAYLOR of 
North Carolina, Mr. MCCRERY, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. 
GARY
G. MILLER
of California, Mrs. MILLER
of Michigan, Mr. 
SWEENEY, Mr. PENCE, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. AKIN, Mr. 
CHOCOLA, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. 
SULLIVAN, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. NUNES, Mr. ROGERS of 
Kentucky, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. OTTER, Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, Mr. 
REHBERG, Mr. GOHMERT, Ms. HERSETH, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. BURGESS, 
Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. CARTER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. ENGLISH of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. RENZI, Mr. BONNER, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. SHUSTER, 
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. GOODE, Mr. ROGERS 
of Alabama, Mr. GORDON, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. YOUNG of 
Alaska, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. MORAN of 
Kansas, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. 
MARCHANT, Mr. MACK, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. 
CALVERT, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. ISSA, Mr. DIN-
GELL, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. MILLER of Flor-
ida, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. POMBO, Mr. KELLER, Mr. HERGER, Mr. 
DOOLITTLE, Mr. SCHWARZ of Michigan, and Mr. NORWOOD) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
JUNE 14, 2005 
Additional sponsors: Mr. DENT, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. WALSH, Mr. SAM 
JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. KLINE, Mr. KENNEDY of Min-
nesota, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. 
GERLACH, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. KUHL of New York, 
Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. JINDAL, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. ROSS, Mr. RADANO-
VICH, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. POE, Mrs. 
KELLY, Mr. MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. KINGSTON, Ms. FOXX, Mr. MURTHA, 
Mr. MURPHY, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. TURNER, 
Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. JENKINS, Mr. GRAVES, Mr. HASTINGS of Wash-
ington, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. HALL, Mr. 
PITTS, Mr. WOLF, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. NEY, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. 
HAYES, Mr. DELAY, Mr. PORTER, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. PRICE of Geor-
gia, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. BARROW, Mr. MELANCON, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, 
Mr. HUNTER, Mr. CAMP, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 
PUTNAM, Mrs. BONO, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. BOREN, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. 
BUYER, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. GUT-
KNECHT, Mrs. EMERSON, Miss MCMORRIS, Mrs. DRAKE, Mr. DEAL of 
Georgia, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. 
BACHUS, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. DAVIS 
of Alabama, Mr. COX, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of 
Florida, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. COLE of Oklahoma, Mr. TIBERI, 
Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. LINDER, Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. 
WAMP, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. 
WELDON of Florida, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. ORTIZ, 
Mr. LATHAM, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr. 
FORTENBERRY, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. 
CUNNINGHAM, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. SODREL, Mr. HOEK-
STRA, Mr. DREIER, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. REYES, Mr. FORBES, 
Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. MCKEON, Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico, Mr. COBLE, 
Mr. SKELTON, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Vir-
ginia, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. HYDE, Mr. LUCAS, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. 
RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. 
BURTON of Indiana, Mr. KIND, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. MCINTYRE, 
Mr. MICA, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. 
EHLERS, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. REGULA, Mr. UPTON, Mr. THOMPSON of 
California, Mr. SHERWOOD, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. WELLER, 
Mr. LAHOOD, and Mr. STUPAK 
JUNE 14, 2005 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 15, 2005] 
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 or 
injunctive or other relief resulting 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) 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, includ-
ing those who are not members of a militia or en-
gaged in military service or training, to keep and 
bear arms. 
(3) Lawsuits have been commenced against man-
ufacturers, distributors, dealers, and importers of fire-
arms 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, in-
cluding 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 en-
gaged in interstate and foreign commerce through the 
lawful design, manufacture, marketing, distribution, 
importation, or sale to the public of firearms or am-
munition products that have been shipped or trans-
ported 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 oth-
ers is an abuse of the legal system, erodes public con-
fidence in our Nation’s laws, threatens the diminu-
tion of a basic constitutional right and civil liberty,
invites the disassembly and destabilization of other 
industries and economic sectors lawfully competing 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 con-
templated by the Federal Government, States, munici-
palities, 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 ex-
pansion 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 
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 im-
munities guaranteed to a citizen of the United States 
under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United 
States Constitution. 
(8) The liability actions commenced or con-
templated by the Federal Government, States, munici-
palities, private interest groups, and others attempt to 
use the judicial branch to circumvent the legislative