Bill Shielding Gun Makers From Suits Gains Support

WASHINGTON —  In a sign of the changing politics of gun control, the Senate appears poised to pass a top priority of the National Rifle Assn. this week, legislation that would shield the gun industry from lawsuits arising from the misuse of its weapons.

Gun manufacturers have pressed for years for such a law. They argue that it is needed to protect them from lawsuits filed by municipalities or individuals that the industry contends could bankrupt some gun makers. Dozens of such lawsuits are pending across the country.

In March 2004, gun control supporters -- mostly Democrats -- were strong enough to block the shield bill in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The November election, however, increased the Republicans’ Senate majority by four seats. It also made Democrats more wary of the political cost of supporting gun control measures.

Debate began Tuesday on the bill after a test vote indicated that it had substantial support. Twelve Democrats, including Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), joined the Republican majority in the 66-32 vote, and the bill’s proponents predicted that it could pass before the Senate adjourned this week for its monthlong summer recess.

The House passed a similar measure last year and was expected to pass it again.

The White House supported the measure in a statement issued Tuesday, saying it would “safeguard our national security by preventing frivolous lawsuits against an industry that plays an important role in fulfilling our military’s procurement needs.”

The bill’s improved chances of passage demonstrated “the power of the gun lobby, pure and simple,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who opposes the measure. “The gun lobby is the most effective lobby in Washington. They are very able to go after people in small states; you will find most of the votes on this from senators from small states.”

The NRA, which has spent millions of dollars over the years to promote the candidacy of gun control opponents and millions to defeat gun control advocates, has pushed hard for a shield law.

Ben Tolchin, a Democratic pollster, said gun control was “one of a series of issues that Democrats have been reevaluating in the aftermath of the last couple of elections -- particularly ’04.”

Tolchin said Democrats were “struggling to get a handle on that issue,” as polls had shown that their backing of gun control measures had cost them support in the nation’s growing exurbs and in rural counties.

The shield bill is sponsored by Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho), who is on the NRA’s board of directors. It would ban most civil lawsuits brought by municipalities, individuals or others that sought to hold gun manufacturers, dealers and trade associations responsible for damages caused by the unlawful use of the weapons or ammunition that they had produced or sold.

If the measure became law, the lawsuits now in court would be dismissed, and state laws would be superseded on the shield issue.

In 2002, California repealed a 1983 Legislature-created exemption that shielded gun manufacturers from many civil lawsuits, and overturned a 2001 state Supreme Court ruling that upheld that law. It is one of 20 states that do not have some sort of limited shield law protecting gun manufacturers from civil lawsuits.

Opponents said Craig’s bill offered far too broad protection from civil lawsuits.

The bill “would set a disturbing precedent,” said Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who led opposition to the measure.

At a news conference before debate began, Reed said the legislation would give “a single industry broad immunity from civil liability, depriving even victims with legitimate cases of their day in court.”

Reed said there had been no flood of litigation and no evidence that gun manufacturers had been put at financial risk by such lawsuits.

The NRA and its supporters argue that it is wrong to hold gun manufacturers and dealers responsible for clients who commit crimes with their products. They say that left unchecked, such lawsuits could be used by gun control advocates to put manufacturers and dealers out of business.

With Democrats divided on the issue and unable to filibuster the measure, opponents fell back to criticizing Republicans for postponing debate on a bill that would authorize half a billion dollars in defense spending to take up the gun liability measure.

Republicans brushed aside the complaints, saying Democrats had dragged their feet on the defense bill and were delaying the Senate’s push to complete a backlogged legislative agenda before the summer recess.

“This is a bill that obviously has a lot of support, and we can do both it and the defense authorization bill this week, if the Democrats will let us,” Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said.

Gun control supporters said they had not given up hope of defeating the bill -- as they did last year -- by attaching amendments opposed by the NRA. One of those would have extended the ban on the sale of assault weapons, which expired last year.

But the bill’s opponents conceded that even among Democrats, their political position had eroded.

“Are there Democrats who were on the wrong side of this issue” during Tuesday’s vote? asked Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun control advocacy group. “Yes, absolutely.”