-- Texas State Rifle Association Email ---
November 09, 1999
OPPOSE the Gun Carve-Out Amendment to S. 625
-- Bankruptcy Reform Bill
During the debate on this bill, anti-Second Amendment Senators such as Carl
Levin, Richard Durbin and Frank Lautenberg may offer an amendment to exclude the
firearms industry from the protections afforded businesses under Chapter 11.
Bankruptcy Reform Legislation Should Apply to All Lawful Products. There is no
rational basis to exclude firearms companies from the procedural rules
established in S. 625. Excluding firearms from the scope of S. 625 is patently
unfair; prejudicial treatment of a particular product or industry makes no more
sense than preferential treatment does. While different industries face diverse
challenges, one important strength of the bankruptcy system is that its rules
apply equally to all.
Offering this amendment to promote issues having nothing to do with bankruptcy
reform is nothing but a veiled attempt to encourage the vexatious litigation
against the firearms industry.
The Gun Carve-Out Amendment Encourages Targeted Litigation . By ensuring that
only the gun industry would be unable to seek bankruptcy protection against
debts from certain civil judgements, frivolous and reckless lawsuits would be
encouraged.
Lawsuits against the firearms industry seeking recovery of damages for
third-party criminal or unlawful misuse of their products have been almost
universally unsuccessful. Most recently, an Ohio court dismissed with prejudice
a suit against the gun industry, stating that the suit is an improper attempt to
have this Court substitute its judgment for that of the legislature, something
which this Court is neither inclined nor empowered to do. City of Cincinatti v.
Beretta U.S.A. Corp., et al. (Court of Common Pleas, Hamilton County, Ohio,
October 7, 1999).
However, given even a single successful judgement, those who seek to destroy the
gun industry --and thus the Second Amendment--would have a ready means to do so;
those who merely seek their own financial gain would gain unlimited access to
the industrys pockets. The amendment is offered with no purpose other than to
demonize firearms and encourage more reckless lawsuits in order to put the
firearms industry out of business.
Please visit the Texas State Rifle Association website: http://www.tsra.com/
Joe's Second Amendment Message Board
November 09, 1999
OPPOSE the Gun Carve-Out Amendment to S. 625
-- Bankruptcy Reform Bill
During the debate on this bill, anti-Second Amendment Senators such as Carl
Levin, Richard Durbin and Frank Lautenberg may offer an amendment to exclude the
firearms industry from the protections afforded businesses under Chapter 11.
Bankruptcy Reform Legislation Should Apply to All Lawful Products. There is no
rational basis to exclude firearms companies from the procedural rules
established in S. 625. Excluding firearms from the scope of S. 625 is patently
unfair; prejudicial treatment of a particular product or industry makes no more
sense than preferential treatment does. While different industries face diverse
challenges, one important strength of the bankruptcy system is that its rules
apply equally to all.
Offering this amendment to promote issues having nothing to do with bankruptcy
reform is nothing but a veiled attempt to encourage the vexatious litigation
against the firearms industry.
The Gun Carve-Out Amendment Encourages Targeted Litigation . By ensuring that
only the gun industry would be unable to seek bankruptcy protection against
debts from certain civil judgements, frivolous and reckless lawsuits would be
encouraged.
Lawsuits against the firearms industry seeking recovery of damages for
third-party criminal or unlawful misuse of their products have been almost
universally unsuccessful. Most recently, an Ohio court dismissed with prejudice
a suit against the gun industry, stating that the suit is an improper attempt to
have this Court substitute its judgment for that of the legislature, something
which this Court is neither inclined nor empowered to do. City of Cincinatti v.
Beretta U.S.A. Corp., et al. (Court of Common Pleas, Hamilton County, Ohio,
October 7, 1999).
However, given even a single successful judgement, those who seek to destroy the
gun industry --and thus the Second Amendment--would have a ready means to do so;
those who merely seek their own financial gain would gain unlimited access to
the industrys pockets. The amendment is offered with no purpose other than to
demonize firearms and encourage more reckless lawsuits in order to put the
firearms industry out of business.
Please visit the Texas State Rifle Association website: http://www.tsra.com/
Joe's Second Amendment Message Board