Posted on 03/02/2004 1:18:03 PM PST by brothers4thID
The Gun Manufacturers Liability Bill just failed by a vote of 8-90. Now there are no worries about the AWB (for now!).
Things like reciprocity for CCW permits in all 50 states and DC. ALSO, maybe reducing the BATFE's ability to harrass innocent gun owners by removing their purview to just inspecting current holders of FFL's. Maybe take away THEIR sidearms because they are suddenly just paperwork inspectors. I dunno, maybe you guys can think up suitable bills to keep the antis hoppin'?
Remember the best defense is often a good and aggressive OFFENSE.
for now.
Ammunition Restriction Study This amendment, offered by Senators Bill Frist (R-TN) and Larry Craig (R-ID), passed the Senate 85-12. Among other things, the language of this provision would commission the Attorney General to determine whether the ban on so-called "cop killer" ammunition should include superior performance bullets in popular hunting calibers such as the 30-06.
This as bad as the AWB as it could leave us with a bunch of guns that we don't "need" because of a total lack of ammo.
First, it may be a state issue, but as long as one state allows frivolous suits against the industry that serves the anti's purpose almost as well a if all 50 allowed them. And you know as well as I do that many states have no intention of disallowing them, ever.
Second, there is plenty of reason to fear in both the short term and the long term. The fact that most suits so far have been failed to go to trial doesn't mean the gunmakers came out unscathed, in every case they spent millions in legal fees before it ever came to that point. The antis don't have to win a blockbuster lawsuit to destroy the firearms industry, their strategy is to kill it by a thousand cuts. Every time some mayor or state AG sues a manufacturer or a group of manufacturers and distributors those defendants have to spend millions of dollars on defense lawyers just to have the suit thrown out.
And of course it's a near certainty that sooner or later a court will allow a frivolous suit to go to trial, and in many states the jury will automatically be stacked against the industry from the get-go. Contrary to what many people think, the firearms manufacturers are not huge corporations with deep pockets. I don't have the figures with me, but I can tell you that even the largest and most profitable gunmakers like S&W, Remington, and Ruger are very small potatoes indeed compared to practically any well known large American corporation, and just one 100 million dollar jury award would almost certainly put any one of them into bankruptcy.
The above words don't scare the hell out of you??
More likely both. The Nastier AWB plan has already been submitted in both Houses. No way will it pass *as a stand alone bill", but the language is there waiting to be amended into some "must pass" legislation. I don't think Brady Bunch per se cared all that much about the liability bill, since they were losing in court anyway for the most part. But I'm sure they consider it's defeat a plus, since now they can continue to use George Soros money to try to bankrupt gunmakers.
Yep, this short-sighted illusion of a "victory" is bllnding many posters to the very probable long-term loss.
I think Sir_Ed is on the right track: if 'stripping' the AWB off the bill in committee (or the House 'killing' any amended bill that came out of committee) was such a sure thing, Senator Craig - the bill's sponsor - would not have urged the Senate to kill the amended bill...
;>)
No not dead, just licking it's wounds, and they were minor. It vill be back. It shall return, this session, count on it.
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