I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 174
To provide for the manufacturer, importer, or dealer of a handgun or an
assault weapon to be held strictly liable for damages that result from
the use of the handgun or assault weapon.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 4, 1995
Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide for the manufacturer, importer, or dealer of a
handgun or an assault weapon to be held strictly liable
for damages that result from the use of the handgun
or assault weapon.
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 Violence Eco-
nomic Equity Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. CAUSE OF ACTION; FEDERAL JURISDICTION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person suffering bodily injury
or death as a result of the discharge of a handgun or an
assault weapon may bring an action in any United States
district court against any permissible defendant for dam-
ages and such other relief as the court deems appropriate.
(b) PERMISSIBLE DEFENDANTS.—The following per-
sons are permissible defendants in an action brought
under subsection (a) with respect to a handgun or an as-
sault weapon:
(1) Any manufacturer of the handgun or as-
sault weapon.
(2) Any importer of the handgun or assault
weapon.
(3) Any dealer who transferred the handgun or
assault weapon.
SEC. 3. STRICT LIABILITY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Each defendant in an action
brought under section 2(a) shall be held strictly liable in
tort, without regard to fault or proof of defect, for all di-
rect and consequential damages that arise from bodily in-
jury or death proximately resulting from the discharge of
the handgun or assault weapon with respect to which the
defendant is a permissible defendant, except as provided
in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) DEFENSES.—
(1) INJURY WHILE COMMITTING A FELONY.—
There shall be no liability under subsection (a) if it
is established by a preponderance of the evidence
that the plaintiff suffered the injury while commit-
ting a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term
exceeding 1 year.
(2) SELF-INFLICTED INJURY.—There shall be
no liability under subsection (a) if it is established
by a preponderance of the evidence that the plain-
tiff’s injury was self-inflicted.
(3) INJURY BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—
There shall be no liability under subsection (a) if it
is established by a preponderance of the evidence
that the injury was suffered as a result of the dis-
charge, by a law enforcement officer in the perform-
ance of official duties, of a handgun or assault weap-
on issued by the United States or any department
or agency thereof, or any State or any department,
agency, or political subdivision thereof.
(4) INJURY
BY
MEMBER
OF
THE
UNITED
STATES ARMED FORCES.—There shall be no liability
under subsection (a) if it is established by a prepon-
derance of the evidence that the injury was suffered
as a result of the discharge, by a member of the
Armed Forces of the United States in the perform-
ance of military duties, of a handgun or assault
weapon issued by the United States or any depart-
ment or agency thereof.
(c) AUTHORITY TO AWARD A REASONABLE ATTOR-
NEY’S FEE.—In an action brought under section 2(a), the
court may, in its discretion, allow the prevailing party a
reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.
SEC. 4. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.
An action may not be brought under section 2(a)
after the 2-year period that begins with the date the injury
described therein is discovered.
SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY.
This Act shall apply only to handguns and assault
weapons manufactured in, imported into, or transferred
in the United States, after the effective date of this Act.
SEC. 6. NO EFFECT ON OTHER CAUSES OF ACTION.
This Act shall not be construed to limit the scope of
any other cause of action available to a person injured as
a result of the discharge of a handgun or an assault weap-
on.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) HANDGUN.—The term ‘‘handgun’’ means a
firearm which, at the time of manufacture, had a
barrel of less than 12 inches in length.
(2) ASSAULT
WEAPON.—The term ‘‘assault
weapon’’ means—
(A) a firearm—
(i) which—
(I) has a barrel of 12 or more
inches in length; and
(II) is capable of receiving am-
munition directly from a large capac-
ity ammunition magazine; or
(ii) which is—
(I) a semiautomatic firearm; and
(II) not generally recognized as
particularly suitable for, or readily
adaptable to, sporting purposes; or
(B) a firearm which is substantially func-
tionally equivalent to a firearm described by
clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A).
(3) LARGE
CAPACITY
AMMUNITION
MAGA-
ZINE.—The term ‘‘large capacity ammunition maga-
zine’’ means a detachable magazine, belt, drum, feed
strip, or similar device which has, or which can be
readily restored or converted to have, a capacity of
15 or more rounds of ammunition.
(4) 
SEMIAUTOMATIC
FIREARM.—The 
term
‘‘semiautomatic firearm’’ means any repeating fire-
arm which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing
cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and
chamber the next round, and which requires a sepa-
rate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.
(5) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term
‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means any officer, agent,
or employee of the United States, or of a State or
political subdivision thereof, who is authorized by
law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detec-
tion, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of
law.
(6) OTHER
TERMS.—The terms ‘‘firearm’’,
‘‘importer’’, ‘‘manufacturer’’, and ‘‘dealer’’ shall
have the meanings given such terms, respectively, in
paragraphs (3), (9), (10), and (11) of section 921(a)
of title 18, United States Code.
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall apply to conduct occurring after the
end of the 20-day period that begins with the date of the
enactment of this Act.
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