House passes firearm liability bill
Rep. T.J. Roberts, R-Burlington, speaks on House Bill 78 on the Kentucky House floor on Tuesday. The bill would prevent firearms manufacturers and sellers from facing certain lawsuits. A high-res version is available here.
FRANKFORT — A bill that would prevent firearms manufacturers and sellers from facing certain lawsuits advanced off the Kentucky House floor on Tuesday.
Rep. T.J. Roberts, R-Burlington, said House Bill 78 codifies federal standards outlined in the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005.
Roberts said HB 78 is the opportunity to protect the Second Amendment just as House Bill 222 in 2022 was an opportunity for the House to protect the First Amendment.
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act makes clear “that criminals should be held liable for their actions, not manufacturers, not sellers,” he added.
Manufacturers and sellers could be held liable under the legislation for product defects and if other gun laws are violated, like the Gun Control Act of 1968 or the National Firearms Act, Roberts added.
“Whenever it comes to someone who followed the law and sold a firearm and it is later used in a crime, the criminal is the person who should be held accountable,” he said. “… We have to ensure that our constitutional rights are protected from extra-legal efforts to suppress these basic rights.”
Rep. Erika Hancock, D-Frankfort, spoke against the legislation. She argued that Congress recognizes through the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act “that the courts should still be able to examine cases where there are allegations that a company violated laws governing the sale and marketing firearms.”
Hancock said she believes HB 78 would limit the ability of the courts and prevent full accountability for gun violence.
“Accountability strengthens public safety,” she said. “When negligent practices exist anywhere in the chain of conduct, our justice system should have the ability to examine it.”
Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, joined several other lawmakers in expressing opposition to HB 78. She said the bill does nothing to protect Kentuckians from gun violence.
“This bill is designed to protect gun manufacturers, but it does nothing to protect ordinary Kentuckians,” she said.
Roberts said Kentucky law already establishes the right for victims to seek accountability from criminal actions.
“If you are injured, if you suffer harm as a result of the actions of a criminal, you can sue that criminal,” he said. “Whom you should not be able to sue are the people that had ultimately nothing to do with it.”
Roberts said when someone drove a truck into a crowd in Wisconsin, he believes no one sued the truck manufacturer or dealer after the incident.
Additionally, Roberts said he believes HB 78 is designed to protect the Second Amendment.
“If there’s no industry, if there is no supply, that right may as well not even exist, and that is the point of this bill,” he said.
While explaining his “yes” vote on the legislation, Rep. Daniel Elliott, R-Danville, said he agrees with Roberts.
“These lawsuits are designed to bankrupt the gun industry,” Elliott said. “If that were to ever happen in this country, that would end the Second Amendment.”
HB 78 will now go before the Senate after a 75-17 vote.