by Dave Workman
Senior Editor

Despite dire predictions by anti-gunners that Congress would “fast-track” legislation to pre-empt municipal lawsuits against the firearms industry, the Senate may not act until after it returns from the August recess.

That was the prediction from Doug Painter, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), and he is not unhappy with the prospective delay. It will allow more time for grassroots lobbying efforts in several key states in hopes of building a filibuster-proof majority of sponsors.

“Our goal is to get up to 60 Senate co-sponsors,” Painter told Gun Week. “We are working on a major campaign to build grassroots support for the legislation, and we will especially be targeting those states . . . with remaining senators we need to (get) as co-sponsors.”

He listed Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Maine, North and South Carolina, North and South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Ohio and West Virginia as target states. Those states, noted Chris Cox, chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association (NRA), “have at least one senator who could or should be on board with us.”

In a lopsided bipartisan vote, the House voted 285-140 on April 9 to pass the legislation, HR-1036, over hysterical objections from anti-gun lobby groups. The Senate companion bill (S-659) already has 52 co-sponsors, and the House vote could give it considerable momentum.

That prospect terrified anti-gun Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC), who claimed the bill will “immunize” the gun industry against any kind of legal action.

That is not quite true, according to proponents of the legislation. The current bill does allow lawsuits for negligence or criminal conduct.

Ironically, one of the Senate’s chief anti-gunners, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)—a major opponent of the legislation—voted to support another bill designed to end abuses in class-action lawsuits the same week that the House passed HR-1036. Feinstein is considered by many to be the most likely to mount a filibuster when the measure comes up for debate.

“We don’t expect that the Senate will act on this legislation until after their August recess,” Painter said. “Things could change, but that is the current prediction. They are not going to fast track it at this point, even though the House has passed it.”

Some anti-gunners feared Congress would pass the measure and President Bush would sign it in time for the NRA convention in Orlando, FL, Apr. 25-27. Bush’s brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, is the scheduled keynote speaker at the NRA’s annual banquet.

But with the process slowed, Painter said NSSF and gun rights organizations have three or four months to lobby the Senate. Gun groups strongly support the measure.

NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said the organization was “happy with the strong bipartisan support” shown in the House.

“The House of Representatives sent a clear message to gun ban groups that they cannot circumvent the legislative process in their efforts to advance their political agenda,” said NRA’s Cox. “A similar message was also sent to the gluttonous trial attorneys who seek to bankrupt a law-abiding and legitimate industry for personal profit.”

And NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre observed, “Congress acted . . . to protect one of America’s oldest and most honorable industries. Their action is a big step forward toward ending these careless lawsuits. These suits are a deliberate attempt aimed at manipulating our legal system to advance a failing political agenda.”

Their remarks echoed leaders of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA). Chairman Alan Gottlieb told Gun Week that the House passage of the bill is “a reasonable first step toward ending costly and baseless litigation against perfectly legal gunmakers.”

“Anti-gunners,” said Gottlieb, “have failed repeatedly in recent years to outlaw gun ownership and destroy the firearms industry through legislative and regulatory efforts. Turning to the courts with a series of headline-grabbing lawsuits has also proven to be pretty much a bust as these legal actions have been repeatedly rejected.”

CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron added that “It is time for Congress to reign in the cities, and especially the greedy trial lawyers who want to pursue these lawsuits, only to amass billable hours against already-strapped municipal budgets.”

The Senate was taking its annual Easter recess as this issue of Gun Week went to press, and by the time they return, anti-gunners will also have done some lobbying of their own, supporters of the legislation admit. Almost immediately after the stinging vote, the anti-gun Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence released a document called “Smoking Guns: Exposing the Gun Industry’s Complicity in the Illegal Gun Market.” The timing was not coincidental.

Longtime gun control proponent Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) accused the firearms industry of “improper conduct” and “corruption.” He told CNSNews that “corrupt dealers sell to criminals.”

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) agreed, contending that gun manufacturers and retailers should be held responsible when firearms are used in crimes. Reed appeared at a Brady Campaign press conference announcing the release of their so-called report.

The Brady Campaign’s Legal Action Project has been directly involved in supporting a string of municipal lawsuits against the gun industry over the past few years.

Neither Lautenberg nor Reed threatened a filibuster, but they also did not say they would not support one. Both promised to do whatever it takes to derail the legislation and keep it from reaching President George Bush, who already said he will sign the measure.

Politically, Democrats could be setting themselves up for continued voter backlash. Many in the party leadership openly acknowledge that the gun control issue has cost Democrats elections since 1994. It is credited with costing Al Gore the states of Tennessee, Arkansas and West Virginia—all states where Democrats traditionally have done well—because of Gore’s position on gun rights, and his participation in the anti-gun Clinton administration.

Yet Democrats continue lining up in favor of gun control legislation, and against proposals to protect gun rights or gunmakers.

Oddly, the debate really has not given much attention to the luck that litigants have found, or more accurately not found, in courtrooms across the country. In case after case, cities have been losing lawsuits, and in some instances they have been thrown out even before trial. No city has so far won a final judgment against gun makers.useless.