Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Opponents plan two amendments to the bill.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
WASHINGTON -- The Senate is scheduled to begin debate on a controversial bill to shield gun makers and sellers from lawsuits, likely passing the legislation within days and injecting an explosive new issue into the upcoming elections.
The measure goes to the floor today with the unusual joint support of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., along with 53 other co-sponsors. Some Democrats had considered blocking the measure, but they concede they do not have the strength necessary to mount a filibuster.
At a minimum, opponents plan to offer two key amendments they say will soften the bill's impact, acknowledging that may be the best they can hope for.
"We recognize there is a lot of support in the Senate for this bill," said Greg McCarthy, a spokesman for Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., one of the measure's chief opponents. "Given that wide support, the question becomes, if you can't prevent it from becoming law, what can we do to make it a better law?"
Expected to be signed
The House passed its version of the bill last year, and President Bush is expected to sign it.
The bill's passage would mark a significant victory for gun-rights supporters, who have been trying to counter gun-control moves such as the Brady law -- which mandates background checks for gun buyers -- and an assault-weapons ban passed in 1994. The Brady law was named for James Brady, press secretary to President Ronald Reagan, who was shot in the 1981 attempt on Reagan's life.
The politics of the gun debate are delicate. Many Republicans fiercely object to restrictions on gun ownership or use, but GOP leaders do not want to alienate suburban swing voters, as well as some mayors and police chiefs, who favor gun control.
For the Democrats, the situation is if anything even more sensitive. Many Democratic loyalists strongly support gun control, but the party is also trying to reach out to voters in the South and the West who support gun rights.
Some think Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994, and that Al Gore lost the presidency in 2000, in part because the Democrats had been so supportive of gun control.
Critical of lawsuits
The bill's supporters say lawsuits filed by cities, states and victims against the gun industry are a misplaced attempt to go after legitimate businesses for crimes committed by individuals. Erich Pratt, spokesman for the Virginia-based group Gun Owners of America, called the lawsuits "judicial terrorism."
"These are frivolous lawsuits, and the fact that they aren't winning in the courts shows that Congress does have a duty to put a stop to them," Pratt said. "We strongly support the underlying bill and have been lobbying to get it passed without any amendments."
Dan Whiting, press secretary for Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, the bill's chief sponsor, said not passing the bill could put America's gun industry at risk.
"We think it sends a dangerous precedent to hold someone liable for something which they have no control," Whiting said.