WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. John Curtis is joining Senate colleagues in proposing legislation to provide enhanced protections to the firearms industry from frivolous lawsuits brought by anti-gun activists.
The Stopping the Harmful and Outrageous Torts (SHOT) Act was introduced into the 119th Congress by Curtis and 14 other Republican senators on June 12.
“For years, bad actors have frivolously litigated the firearms industry in ways that unnecessarily strain our court system and undermine Americans’ Second Amendment rights,” Curtis explains.
In its simplest terms, the intent of the SHOT Act is to strengthen the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a law already on the books that defends the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans by protecting firearms manufacturers from bogus litigation.
Passed by Congress 20 years ago, the PLCAA was intended stop frivolous lawsuits brought by anti-gun groups against the firearms industry, according to Curtis’ staff in Washington.
Those lawsuits — premised solely on the actions of third parties who misuse firearms in a manner beyond the industry’s control — sought to bankrupt the manufacturers of firearms. In response, the PLCAA provided the firearms industry with basic immunity protections from suits that many other American industries enjoy.
Since then, however, the plain text of the PLCAA has been ignored to a growing coalition of anti-gun groups, progressive politicians, plaintiffs’ attorneys and rogue judges, they say.
For example, in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, Mexico filed a lawsuit against firearms manufacturers alleging that they caused cartel violence. The District Court judge hearing the case quickly dismissed the suit under the PLCAA, but a panel of liberal judges on the First Circuit ignored the PLCAA’s text and reversed the lower court, necessitating the Supreme Court’s involvement.
While a unanimous Supreme Court emphatically dismissed the suit eventually, the litigation cost firearms manufacturers an exorbitant amount in legal fees, Curtis argues.
The SHOT Act would address similar litigation by the anti-gun lobby and like-minded judges against firearms manufacturers by establishing numerous specific provisions under the law prohibiting those tactics.
In addition to Curtis, the proposed legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ted Budd (R-NC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Jim Risch (R-ID), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Jim Justice (R-WV), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
Companion legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representative by Rep. Derek Schmidt (R-KS).
The SHOT Act is also being endorsed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).
“The SHOT Act will help ensure that lawful firearms manufacturers and sellers are not held liable for crimes committed by third parties,” Curtis adds, “while closing legal loopholes and reinforcing existing legal protections.”