‘It’s A Disaster’: Joe Biden’s Gun Plan Could Bankrupt The Firearms Industry, Advocates Say

President-elect Joe Biden’s gun control plan includes a provision to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce In Arms Act, which protects firearm sellers and manufacturers from lawsuits related to the misuse of weapons or ammunition.  Two Second Amendment advocates said the plan could cripple the gun industry and drive companies and small sellers alike into bankruptcy.  Remington Arms Company, which recently went bankrupt, and Cabelas were recent targets of gun-related lawsuits, and the firearms advocates insist the Georgia Senate races will determine if Biden’s policies are enacted into law.

President-elect Joe Biden’s gun control plan, which in part seeks to remove liability protections on firearm manufacturers and dealers, could bankrupt major players in the weapons industry, two advocates said.

The former vice president’s “Plan To End Our Gun Violence Epidemic” seeks to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce In Arms Act, which affords firearms dealers and manufacturers legal protection against lawsuits that may result from the misuse of weapons or ammunition sold to the public. Such a measure would effectively leave dealers and sellers vulnerable to wrongful death and injury lawsuits, senior vice president of the Gun Owners of America Erich Pratt told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“[Biden’s plan] means that gun manufacturers could ultimately be put out of business through frivolous lawsuits, Pratt said in a phone interview.“It’s totally irresponsible, imagine holding Ford or GM responsible for the damage caused by hit-and-run drivers. We wouldn’t tolerate that and yet that’s exactly the type of legal theory they’re trying to put on gun manufacturers.”

Kevin Jamison, a Missouri self-defense lawyer and firearms trainer, said “The guys pushing these lawsuits, they don’t care if they win. They care if they can force these companies to hemorrhage money. They are in the business of putting gun companies out of business.”

Remington Arms Company, which has been producing firearms since 1816, went bankrupt in late September after the corporation was sued by the families of the victims involved in the deadly 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, according to Fox Business. The gunman used a Bushmaster, a sub-company of Remington, AR-15 during the shooting, Fox reported.

The families argued that the Bushmaster XM15-E2X “posed an unreasonable and egregious risk of physical risk to others” and insisted that the 200-year-old gun company was negligent in selling the weapon to civilians, according to WBUR. Outdoor retail giant Cabela’s was also sued in early November for selling ammunition to a 19-year-old who accidentally killed a friend with a handgun, The Buffalo News reported.

Pratt said the country will be seeing “more” of these lawsuits and he added that Remington’s bankruptcy “was the desired intent” of the legal procedure. Jamison called the theories behind the gun litigation “absurd” and said the laws... (Read more)

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