Conyers: Another embarrassing day on the floor today..

[hiley]

HOUSE GOP PASSES GUN IMMUNITY BILL THAT WILL ENDANGER INNOCENT LIVES
by Congressman John Conyers, Jr.




Bill Goes on to Bush for Signature

Another embarrassing day on the floor today as the House passed the Senate version of the gun immunity bill, which now goes on to Bush for signature. The bill prohibits civil liability for the firearms industry and gun dealers arising from the “criminal or unlawful misuse” of their products by the injured party or others. At a time when more than 30,000 gun deaths occur each year, this bill represents nothing more than an unwarranted and unjust special interest giveaway to the powerful gun lobby.

The bill is so broad it would even shield gun dealers and distributors from liability when they knowingly transfer firearms to suspected or known terrorists or gang members. The ease with which these individuals are obtaining dangerous firearms is growing at an alarming rate. According to a recent GAO report, over the course of a nine-month span last year, a total of fifty-six firearm purchase attempts were made by individuals designated as known or suspected terrorists by the federal government. In forty-seven of those cases, state and federal authorities were forced to permit such transactions to proceed because officials were unable to find any disqualifying information (such as a prior felony conviction or court-determined ‘mental defect’) in the individual applicant’s background. The Republican-controlled House wouldn’t even offer Democrats the chance to amend the bill to deal with this problem.

For anyone who wonders whether politics makes a difference, today was the day. Until today, never before has a class of persons harmed by the dangerous conduct of others been wholly deprived of the right to legal recourse. But now, the gun liability has won, and innocent Americans will be forced to pay the price – often in their lives.

http://www.conyersblog.us/default.htm

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