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Gun Makers Upset President Biden Wants to End Their Liability Protection

BY April 10, 2021

President Joe Biden has spent years writing and fighting gun laws in Washington, and this week he responded to the outcry for stricter gun safety regulations in the wake of several mass shootings in the country over the last month and a half. Addressing the country on Thursday, the President spoke passionately about the need for new executive actions to curb gun violence. An observant lifelong Catholic, President Biden even thought out loud as he shared his wish of being able to “ask God to immediately change one gun law”, and it wasn’t eliminating assault weapons or “bump stocks.”

Joe Biden would ask his Almighty to let people sue the gun makers, who have enjoyed liability protection for decades.

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 12: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during an event on the American Rescue Plan in the Rose Garden of the White House on March 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act into law that will send aid to millions of Americans struggling from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“This is the only outfit that is exempt from being sued. If I get one thing on my list — if the Lord came down and said, ‘Joe, you get one of these’ — give me that one,” the President said during his remarks in the White House Rose Garden.

“Most people don’t realize, the only industry in America, billion-dollar industry, that can’t be sued, exempt from being sued, are gun manufacturers,” President Biden explained.

President Biden is referring to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a 2005 law that largely shields firearm manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits when people use their products illegally, such as by shooting someone.

“He wants to drive us out of business,” Mark Oliva, the director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade group, said of President Biden’s suggestion. “The gun industry absolutely can be sued,” said Oliva. “You just can’t sue a gun-maker because someone criminally misused a gun. That would be like suing Ford because a drunk driver killed someone.”

While many gun control advocates insist the firearms industry’s protections are unique, they still put universal background checks at the top of their agenda while hoping for the repeal of the PLCAA. It would be a major victory for gun safety advocates, although it admittedly faces a tougher climb in Congress, which is probably why the President was asking for divine backup.



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