During the March 6 Democrat Debate Hillary Clinton continued the false claim that gun manufacturers enjoy “immunity” because of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which she opposed but Bernie Sanders supported in 2005.
Breitbart News previously reported that the PLCAA does not grant “immunity” to firearm manufacturers in any way. Rather, it protects them from frivolous suits brought by gun grabbers and unscrupulous attorneys who want to hold gun makers liable for the illegal use of guns that are legally made and legally sold. Clinton presents things in a way that makes it seem like gun makers face no liability.
This is simply not true.
Clinton raised her “immunity” claims on Sunday while answering a question about keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people. According to the The Washington Post, Clinton said:
Giving immunity to gunmakers and sellers was a terrible mistake. Because it removed any accountability from the makers and the sellers. And it also disrupted what was a very promising legal theory, to try to get makers to do more to make guns safer for example. To try to give sellers more accountability for selling guns when they shouldn’t have. So that is an issue that Senator Sanders and I differ on, I voted against giving them immunity, but I think we should very seriously move to repeal that and go back to making sure gun makers and sellers are like any other business. They can be held accountable.
Yet in reality, Remington gun owners were recently informed of a class action lawsuit against the famed gunmaker over alleged faulty trigger mechanisms, and in 2015, Forjas Taurus SA reached a $30 million settlement in a class action lawsuit over an alleged “drop fire defect” in certain Taurus pistols. Moreover, the Outdoor Hub reports that Century Arms–makers of AK-47 variants–currently faces a $5 million lawsuit over allegations that certain of their rifles “came with defective safety selectors.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.