Democrats in Connecticut’s House will weigh a bill this week that would allow citizens to sue gun manufacturers, marketers, and dealers over the criminal use of firearms.
The CT Insider noted that the legislation is being pushed as a way to create state-level options for filing lawsuits that are barred federally by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).
State Rep. Steve Stafstrom (D) believes PLCAA has given too much legal immunity to people in the firearms industry: “What it has done is provide untoward protections to gun manufacturers and has deprived victims of their rights to seek compensation in our courts when they are injured by a firearm.”
He added that the state-level legislation “would go further,” noting, “If you know your products are getting into the hands of gun traffickers and there is a way for you to prevent that from happening and you’re not doing it, this would allow a civil action in that instance. This adds a level of civil redress for a victim on top of the existing prohibitive practices.”
NBC Connecticut showed the bill is supported by the gun control lobby’s Connecticut Against Gun Violence. The group’s chairperson, Melissa Kane, claimed CAGV wants to go after the “bad apples” among gun dealers.
State House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora (R) suggested the Connecticut legislation is a “trial lawyer’s dream.”
He added, “I don’t think it does anything to make Connecticut safer from gun violence. It certainly will make lawyers a lot richer.”
Mike Bloomberg-affiliated Everytown for Gun Safety ranks Connecticut as number five among all states for gun control. Connecticut has a universal background checks for handgun purchases, a red flag law, gun storage laws, an “assault weapons” ban, a “high capacity” magazine ban, a bump stock ban, “ghost gun” regulations, and a minimum gun purchase age of 21 (for both long guns and handguns), among other things.
Now state Democrats want to add the ability to sue gun dealers to Connecticut’s gun control list.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: [email protected].
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