Details

• Sponsor - Stearns
• Proposed - February 15, 2005
• Congressional Record Link - HR800
• Amends - None.
• Amendments - None.
• Vote - None yet.
• Results - No change in law.

Status

• February 15, 2005 - Referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
• March 10, 2005 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.
• March 15, 2005 - Introductory remarks by Chairman Chris Cannon for
  Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law

Testimony provided to the subcommittee by:

Rodd C. Walton - General Counsel, Sigarms, Inc.
Dennis A. Henigan - Director, Legal Action Project, Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Bradley T. Beckman, Esq. - Beckman & Associates, Counsel to North American Arms
Lawrence G. Keane - Senior Vice President & General Counsel, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc.

Click on the name to read their testimony.

• April 11, 2005 - Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law Discharged. (Passed out of subcommittee to the whole committee.)
• April 13, 2005 - Judiciary Committee held a markup session. They ran out of time before getting to HR800.
• April 20, 2005 - Judiciary Committee held another markup session. The only amendment to pass corrected a grammatical error. The work is not complete and another markup session is scheduled for April 27.
• April 27, 2005 - The markup session was postponed. A new date is to be set.
• May 18, 2005 - Markup session held. Work not completed.
• May 25, 2005 - Markup session held. The bill was referred to the full House with only one amendment of a grammatical nature.
• June 14, 2005 - The bill has been added to the list of bills to be addressed by the full House. It is expected that this bill will not be brought up until after a set of appropriations bills. This may occur right after the July 4 recess.

Synopsis

HR800 states an appropriate set of definitions and then provides:

(a) In General- A qualified civil liability action may not be brought in any Federal or State court.

(b) Dismissal of Pending Actions- A qualified civil liability action that is pending on the date of the enactment of this Act shall be dismissed immediately by the court in which the action was brought or is currently pending.

Analysis

This bill, and Senate Bill 397, are follow ons to last year's Senate Bill 1805. The only question is whether or not it will be passed before being loaded down with amendments.

Without amendment, this bill prevents antigun zealots from trying to bankrupt an industry using the legal system.

Amendments Proposed in the Judiciary Committee Markup Sessions
(from the Congressional Record)

1. JACKSON-LEE AMENDMENTDescription of Amendment: The Jackson-Lee amendment proposed to add a new exception under section 4, paragraph (5) of the bill to permit the parents of children under the age of 18 who are injured or killed as a result of some random act of gun violence to still bring a cause of action against irresponsible gun dealers.

Vote on Amendment: The amendment was defeated on a straight party-line basis by a vote of 9 to 16. Ayes: Representatives Conyers, Nadler, Scott, Watt, Jackson Lee, Waters, Wexler, Sanchez, Van Hollen. Nays: Representatives Sensenbrenner, Coble, Smith, Gallegly, Goodlatte, Chabot, Jenkins, Cannon, Hostettler, Green, Keller, Issa, Forbes, King, Feeney, Gohmert.


2. WATT AMENDMENT Description of Amendment: The Watt amendment proposed to strike section 3(b) of the bill in order to make the terms of the bill apply in a prospective manner.

Vote on Amendment: The amendment was defeated on a straight party-line basis by a vote of 10 to 18. Ayes: Representatives Conyers, Nadler, Scott, Watt, Waters, Wexler, Schiff, Sanchez, Smith, Van Hollen. Nays: Representatives Sensenbrenner, Coble, Gallegly, Goodlatte, Chabot, Jenkins, Cannon, Bachus, Inglis, Hostettler, Green, Keller, Issa, Forbes, King, Feeney, Franks, Gohmert.


3. WEXLER AMENDMENT Description of Amendment: The Wexler amendment proposed to add a new exception under section 4, paragraph (5) of the bill which would permit a plaintiff to bring a cause of action against a dealer who transfers a firearm without an accompanying child safety lock, and the gun is later involved in the accidental killing of a child.

Vote on the Amendment: The amendment was defeated on virtually a straight party-line basis by a vote of 10 to 18. Ayes: Representatives Conyers, Nadler, Scott, Watt, Waters, Wexler, Schiff, Sanchez, Smith, Van Hollen. Nays: Representatives Boucher, Sensenbrenner, Coble, Gallegly, Goodlatte, Chabot, Jenkins, Cannon, Bachus, Inglis, Hostettler, Green, Keller, Issa, Forbes, King, Feeney, Franks, Gohmert.


4. WATT AMENDMENT Description of Amendment: The Watt amendment proposed to make several modifications to the bill in order to eliminate the immunity from liability that sellers, dealers or distributors enjoy under the current terms of the bill, even when they engage in negligent behavior that results in a firearm-related fatality.

Vote on the Amendment: The amendment was defeated on virtually a straight party-line basis by a vote of 10 to 17. Ayes: Representatives Conyers, Nadler, Scott, Watt, Waters, Wexler, Schiff, Sanchez, Smith, Van Hollen. Nays: Representatives Boucher, Sensenbrenner, Coble, Gallegly, Goodlatte, Chabot, Jenkins, Cannon, Inglis, Hostettler, Keller, Issa, Forbes, King, Feeney, Franks, Gohmert.


5. VAN HOLLEN AMENDMENT Description of Amendment: The Van Hollen amendment proposed to replace the heightened standard of `negligence per se or negligence entrustment' with the more traditional common law standard of simple negligence.

Vote on the Amendment: The amendment was defeated on virtually a straight party-line basis by a vote of 8 to 19. Ayes: Representatives Conyers, Scott, Watt, Waters, Meehan, Weiner, Sanchez, Van Hollen. Nays: Representatives Boucher, Sensenbrenner, Coble, Smith, Gallegly, Chabot, Lungren, Cannon, Inglis, Hostettler, Green, Keller, Issa, Flake, Pence, Forbes, King, Franks, Gohmert.


6. SANCHEZ AMENDMENT Description of Amendment: The Sanchez amendment proposed to add a new exception under section 4, paragraph (5) of the bill to permit a plaintiff to bring a cause of action against a dealer that unlawfully transfers a firearm to an individual who has been previously convicted of a domestic violence-related offense.

Vote on the Amendment: The amendment was virtually defeated on a straight party-line basis by a vote of 8 to 19. Ayes: Representatives Conyers, Scott, Watt, Lofgren, Waters, Meehan, Wexler, Weiner, Schiff, Sanchez, Van Hollen. Nays: Representatives Boucher, Sensenbrenner, Coble, Smith, Gallegly, Chabot, Lungren, Jenkins, Cannon, Inglis, Hostettler, Green, Keller, Issa, Flake, Pence, Forbes, King, Feeney, Franks, Gohmert.

7. VAN HOLLEN AMENDMENT Description of Amendment: The Van Hollen amendment proposed to modify the definition of `negligent entrustment' found in section 4, paragraph (5) of the bill to include transfers that occur even though the dealer knows that the purchaser of the firearm has been designated as suspected or known terrorist or gang member.

Vote on the Amendment: The amendment was defeated on virtually a straight party-line basis by a vote of 10 to 20. Ayes: Representatives Conyers, Nadler, Scott, Lofgren, Jackson Lee, Meehan, Weiner, Schiff, Sanchez, Van Hollen. Nays: Representatives Boucher, Sensenbrenner, Coble, Smith, Gallegly, Chabot, Jenkins, Cannon, Inglis, Hostettler, Green, Keller, Issa, Flake, Pence, Forbes, King, Feeney, Franks, Gohmert.


8. SCOTT AMENDMENT Description of Amendment: The Scott amendment proposed to strike the language in the findings section of the bill which incorrectly asserted that the right to keep and bear arms under the Second amendment is an individual right; and not a collective right, as interpreted by the Supreme Court.

Vote on Amendment: The amendment was defeated by a party-line vote of 8-19. Ayes: Representatives Conyers, Boucher, Nadler, Scott, Watt, Lofgren, Waters, Meehan, Sanchez, Nays: Representatives Boucher, Sensenbrenner, Coble, Smith, Gallegly, Goodlatte, Lungren, Jenkins, Cannon, Hostettler, Green, Keller, Issa, Pence, Forbes, King, Feeney, Franks, Gohmert.


9. SCOTT AMENDMENT Description of Amendment: The Scott amendment proposed to strike the language in section 4, paragraph 5 of the bill which, as drafted, would require two convictions (the conviction of the transferor and transferee) to take place prior to allowing an injured plaintiff to obtain relief.

Vote on Amendment: The amendment was defeated by a party-line vote of 8-21. Ayes: Representatives Conyers, Nadler, Scott, Watt, Lofgren, Jackson Lee, Waters, Weiner, Sanchez, Nays: Representatives Boucher, Sensenbrenner, Coble, Smith, Gallegly, Goodlatte, Chabot, Lungren, Jenkins, Cannon, Inglis, Hostettler, Green, Keller, Issa, Pence, Forbes, King, Feeney, Franks, Gohmert.

10. LOFGREN AMENDMENT Description of Amendment: The Lofgren amendment proposed to add a new exception under section 4, paragraph (5) of the bill to permit any local, state or federal law enforcement official who was shot in the line of duty with the right to still bring a cause of action under traditional principles of negligence.
 
Vote on Amendment: The amendment was defeated by a party-line vote of 11-20. Ayes: Representatives Conyers, Nadler, Scott, Watt, Lofgren, Jackson Lee, Waters, Meehan, Weiner, Sanchez, Van Hollen. Nays: Representatives Boucher, Sensenbrenner, Coble, Smith, Gallegly, Goodlatte, Chabot, Lungren, Jenkins, Cannon, Hostettler, Green, Keller, Issa, Pence, Forbes, King, Feeney, Franks, Gohmert.