WHEREAS, Nearly 30,000 Americans die each year from gun violence in this country each year; and
WHEREAS, Gun manufacturers and sellers are already exempt from federal consumer product safety regulation and the only other product, which enjoys such exemption, is tobacco; and
WHEREAS, The state of California in 2002, which recognized that an immunized gun industry lacks the motivation to avoid negligent or reckless behavior that creates grave dangers to the general public, repealed it’s twenty year old gun industry immunity statute, restoring the rights of victims of gun industry negligence to seek redress in court; and
WHEREAS, The federal legislation would deny the legal rights of current and future gun violence victims seeking to hold the gun industry accountable for irresponsible manufacturing and selling practices by giving an unprecedented special immunity from lawsuits to gun sellers; and
WHEREAS, Such legislation puts American law enforcement officers and the general public in danger by reckless gun sales practices; and
WHEREAS, The national NAACP’s pending case against the gun industry alleging that negligent marketing practices by gun manufacturers and distributors fuel street violence that victimizes minorities and that gun makers knowingly sell their products to corrupt dealers who supply criminals, would be made invalid by the proposed legislation; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Committee on Law and Government is authorized to hold hearings to investigate whether the gun industry should be granted special protections against legal action; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the City Council calls upon our Congressional delegation to vote against S. 659
and H.R. 1036, which would take away rights of gun victims by prohibiting qualified civil liability actions from being brought by the federal government, states, municipalities, and private interest groups, and individuals in federal or state court.
End