John —
We are just 100 days into 2021, and we’ve already lost over 11,000 people to gun violence, another 8,000 have been injured, and there have been 133 mass shootings. We are the only developed nation in the world that tolerates this kind of bloodshed, and it doesn’t have to be this way.
And this week, President Biden in the Rose Garden announced new executive actions to curb gun violence. The president also called on the Senate to move the House passed bills that expand background checks and reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, and then he said something that caught my attention:
"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. Imagine how different it would be had that same exemption been available to tobacco companies, who knew and lied about the danger they were causing. If I get one thing on my list, Lord came down and said, ‘Joe, you get one of these,’ give me that one, because I tell you what, there would be a come-to-the-Lord moment these folks would have, real quickly."
That’s why since 2013, I’ve been the lead author on that bill, which would roll back this outrageous immunity from liability — because victims of gun violence deserve their day in court. My bill is called the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act and the time to pass it into law is now.
The big businesses that make and sell the most dangerous products don’t deserve a law that no other industry has, to shield them from legal liability even when they act negligently and without care for public safety.
There’s no doubt: The NRA and their Republican allies in Congress will fight my bill tooth and nail to preserve the gun industry’s unjustifiable legal immunity, because they know that without it, irresponsible actors could finally be held accountable. But we don’t have to let them win.
My bill would end the immunity that protects gun manufacturers. Add your name to my petition today — let’s end the liability shield for gun manufacturers and give gun violence victims their day in court.
Thank you for taking this important stand with me on behalf of gun violence victims across our country.
— Adam
