Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
President Joe Biden’s not waiting to see if gun control activist David Chipman will be confirmed as ATF director before making his next moves in his anti-gun agenda. And with the prospects of getting his gun ban approved even less likely than seeing Chipman installed at ATF headquarters, Biden is turning his attention to the nation’s firearm manufacturers. USA Today reports that this afternoon Biden will be huddled with Democratic Attorneys General from around the country to discuss ways to pin the blame for the current crime spike on gun makers.
A key part of the discussion, according to an administration official, is expected to center on the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which gives gun manufacturers and dealers blanket immunity for being liable when their products are used to commit crimes. Biden has pushed for Congress to repeal the law, but that’s unlikely in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes.
White House officials will stress that PLCAA provides a “predicate exception” for states that have their own laws that allow plaintiffs to seek claims against gun manufacturers and dealers for some culpability.
In June, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the nation’s first law that seeks to get around the federal gun liability shield. States like Connecticut have used consumer protection or nuisance laws to hold gun manufacturers and dealers accountable for gun violence.
“That doesn’t mean that PLCAA still isn’t a significant barrier,” the administration official said. “One of the key things we need to do is repeal it, and we’re still fighting every day for that. But in the meantime, we’re going to be creative about talking to states about how they can use existing law to make policy change.”
“Use existing law to make policy change” is another way of saying “since we can’t pass gun control through legislation, we’re going to try to impose it through litigation.”
Once again, we see Biden doing the bidding of the gun control lobby, which has pursued a similar strategy in recent months, including Brady’s involvement in a civil suit filed by the Mexican government against several major firearms manufacturers. And once again, the focus of both the anti-gun activists and their allies in the administration is on then more than 100-million legal gun owners and a lawful industry instead of the much smaller number of individuals engaging in illegal and violent activity with firearms.
It’s actually worse than that, because Biden is urging these AGs to argue that gun manufacturers are the ones that are truly responsible for the rise in violent crimes in many Democrat-controlled cities, as opposed to the individuals pulling the trigger. And why do these individuals feel more emboldened to try to end a beef with a gun on a crowded city street? In part, it’s because Democrats from Joe Biden on down want to excuse their criminal behavior rather than demanding accountability and consequences.
At a time of record high gun sales and skyrocketing violent crime, the Biden administration has chosen its target: legal gun owners and the gun makers helping them to exercise their right of armed self-defense. And since Biden has already told us he doesn’t mind pursuing strategies that even his own advisors say are unconstitutional, gun owners should be deeply concerned about not only his current plans, but his long-term goals as well.