The House yesterday voted to shield companies that make and sell firearms from lawsuits by the victims of shootings, sending the legislation to the White House and handing the nation's gun lobby a paramount victory it has sought for years.
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The legislation is intended to cut off an avenue that gun-control advocates have used in recent years to exert leverage on the firearms industry, trying to curb the sale of weapons to criminals by holding it financially responsible for crimes. The National Rifle Association and other gun enthusiasts have complained that the expense of fighting lawsuits put manufacturers and gun stores on shaky financial ground, regardless of who wins the cases.
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Similar legislation was first introduced in the House four years ago and provoked bitter disagreement among lawmakers. Yesterday marked the second time the bill has passed the House, but the Senate has resisted in previous years. In late July, however, the Senate approved the legislation, in part because of support from Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and other Democrats from GOP-leaning states in the West and the South. Last year, the NRA worked successfully to defeat Reid's predecessor, Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), who had opposed the measure.
There are a large number of gun companies in South Dakota, so this bill is great news for our state. Last year, Tom Daschle helped undermined the bill by attaching various riders and, thus, halted the passage. The Hill focused on Daschle's refusal to allow the passage of the gun legislation bill. Guns rights groups ripped into him for allowing "poison pill" amendments and the NRA kept a close tally on who voted which way:
NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre wrote to lawmakers following passage of the amendments, saying his group opposed final passage. LaPierre made it clear that the vote would “be used in our future evaluations and endorsements of candidates” for the Senate.
The collapse of the legislation was utterly unexpected. Even yesterday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) were indicating that the bill would pass, and Frist planned to get it to conference quickly.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she had secured a “commitment” from Daschle not to go to conference unless he received assurance that the assault-weapons ban would remain in the final bill.
All of this hurt Daschle's credibility back home. The AP quoted Daschle on June 8, 1990: "Daschle issued a statement telling South Dakotans that 'as a hunter and gun owner, I am against gun control, period.'" Unfortunately for him, his actions were different from his words.
In today's Wall Street Journal, on page A6, runs the article "Congress Clears Long-Stalled Gun-Liability Bill."
The firearms bill has been a longstanding goal for the NRA and it follows enactment this year of business-backed class-action and bankruptcy legislation. All three previously had been blocked by Senate Democrats, but Republican gains in the 2004 elections broke what had been years of stalemate.
In other words, it's the New Senate in action. Daschle was blocking all this legislation and now Thune, one of the "Republican gains," is helping things get done.
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