I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1086
To reform the manner in which firearms are manufactured and distributed
by providing an incentive to State and local governments to bring claims
for the rising costs of gun violence in their communities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 11, 1999
Mr. FORD (for himself, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr.
WEINER, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr.
WYNN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. NAD-
LER, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. JACKSON of Illi-
nois, and Mr. DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To reform the manner in which firearms are manufactured
and distributed by providing an incentive to State and
local governments to bring claims for the rising costs
of gun violence in their communities.
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 ‘‘Gun Industry Respon-
sibility Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Across the Nation, local communities are
bringing rightful legal claims against the gun indus-
try to seek changes in the manner in which the in-
dustry conducts business in the civilian market in
those communities.
(2) Since firearms are the only widely available
consumer product designed to kill, firearm manufac-
turers, distributors, and retailers have a special re-
sponsibility to take into account the health and safe-
ty of the public in marketing firearms.
(3) The gun industry has failed in this respon-
sibility by engaging in practices that have contrib-
uted directly to the terrible burden of firearm-re-
lated violence on society.
(4) The gun industry has generally refused to
include numerous safety devices with their products,
including devices to prevent the unauthorized use of
a firearm, indicators that a firearm is loaded, and
child safety locks, and the absence of such safety de-
vices has rendered these products unreasonably dan-
gerous.
(5) The gun industry has also engaged in dis-
tribution practices in which the industry oversupplies
certain legal markets with firearms with the knowl-
edge that the excess firearms will be distributed into
nearby illegal markets.
(6) According to the National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control—
(A) at least 80 percent of the economic
costs of treating firearms injuries are paid for
by taxpayer dollars; and
(B) in 1990, firearm injuries resulted in
costs of more than $24,000,000,000 in hospital
and other medical care for long-term disability
and premature death.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) FEDERAL DAMAGES.—The term ‘‘Federal
damages’’ means the amount of damages sustained
by the Federal Government as a result of the sale,
distribution, use or misuse of a firearm (including
gun violence) including damages relating to medical
expenses, the costs of continuing care and disabil-
ities, law enforcement expenses, and lost wages.
(2) FIREARM.—The term ‘‘firearm’’ has the
meaning given the term in section 921 of title 18,
United States Code.
(3) GUN VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘gun violence’’
means any offense under Federal or State law
that—
(A) constitutes a crime of violence (as de-
fined in section 16 of title 18, United States
Code); and
(B) involves the use of a firearm.
(4) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac-
turer’’ has the meaning given the term in section
921 of title 18, United States Code;
(5) 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.
(6) 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. RECOVERY OF FEDERAL DAMAGES BY STATES AND
UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT SEEKING
FEDERAL DAMAGES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—In any civil action by a State or
unit of local government against a manufacturer of fire-
arms to recover damages relating to the sale, distribution,
use or misuse of a firearm (including gun violence) in the
State or unit of local government, the State or unit of
local government may, in addition to other damages, re-
cover any Federal damages associated with the claim as
provided in this section.
(b) FEDERAL ACTIONS.—If the Attorney General
files an action against a manufacturer of firearms to re-
cover Federal damages, a State or unit of local govern-
ment may not recover those Federal damages under this
section in any action filed on or after the date on which
the Attorney General files that action.
(c) ACTIONS BROUGHT BY A STATE OR UNIT OF
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—
(1) NOTICE OF CIVIL ACTION.—A State or unit
of local government seeking to recover Federal dam-
ages under this section shall serve a copy of the
complaint on Attorney General in accordance with
rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
(2) ENTRY OF APPEARANCE.—If the Attorney
General is served under paragraph (1), the Attorney
General may proceed with the action by entering an
appearance before the expiration of the 30-day pe-
riod beginning on the date on which the Attorney
General is served under paragraph (1).
(3) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO ENTER APPEAR-
ANCE OR PROCEED WITH THE ACTION.—If a State
or unit of local government serves the Attorney Gen-
eral under paragraph (1), the State of unit of local
government may recover Federal damages under this
section only if the Attorney General—
(A) fails to enter an appearance in the ac-
tion in accordance with paragraph (2) or gives
written notice to the court of an intent not to
enter the action; or
(B) does not proceed with the action before
the expiration of the 6-month period (or such
addition period as the court may allow after no-
tice) beginning on the date on which the Attor-
ney General enters an appearance under para-
graph (2).
(4) LIMITATION.—If the Attorney General en-
ters an appearance under paragraph (2) and pro-
ceeds with the action before the expiration of the 6-
month period described in paragraph (3)(B), the
State or unit of local government may not recover
Federal damages under this section.
(d) PREVENTION OF DUAL RECOVERY OF FEDERAL
DAMAGES.—If there is a conflict between a State and 1
or more units of local government within the State over