Biden could bankrupt firearms industry, Second Amendment advocates warn

FPI / November 26, 2020

If Joe Biden does reach the White House his administration will launch an assault on gun manufacturers that could ultimately put them out of business, Second Amendment advocates say.

Biden favors repealing the Protection of Lawful Commerce In Arms Act, in which firearms dealers and manufacturers are given legal protection against lawsuits that may result from the misuse of weapons or ammunition sold to the public.

If a Biden administration does repeal the act, firearms dealers and sellers would instantly become vulnerable to wrongful death and injury lawsuits that target the weapon, rather than the perpetrator, senior vice president of the Gun Owners of America Erich Pratt told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a report published on Nov. 24.

“[Biden’s plan] means that gun manufacturers could ultimately be put out of business through frivolous lawsuits,” Pratt said. “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.”

The plan would become immediately possible if Democrats were to win the runoff Senate elections in Georgia, giving Democrats control of both the House and Senate.

“The idea of the Left would be 'oh sure you can have a Second Amendment right, too bad you just can’t find any guns that are being produced and manufactured,' ” Pratt said.

Kevin Jamison, a Missouri self-defense lawyer and firearms trainer, said: “If they destroy enough companies or force them to adopt their rules of procedure then there will be no place to buy guns and that’s what they’re looking for. They want to make it as expensive to own a gun as humanly possible — and as difficult. If they get even part of their wish list, they won.”

After it was sued by the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, Remington Arms Company went bankrupt. Remington has been producing firearms since 1816. The Sand Hook shooter used a Bushmaster, a sub-company of Remington, AR-15 during the shooting, Fox Business 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.

Americans will be seeing “more” of these lawsuits, Pratt said, adding that Remington’s bankruptcy “was the desired intent” of the legal procedure.

Outdoor retail giant Cabela’s was sued in early November for selling ammunition to a 19-year-old who accidentally killed a friend with a handgun, The Buffalo News reported.

Jamison 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.”

“They’ve gotten away with it because the courts have indulged these absurd theories of law,” Jamison said. “It’s a disaster. It has been very bad the last few years, yes, but it’s going to be the death of mom and pop and gun shops — individually-owned gun shops — and some of these companies.”

Free Press International