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Politics : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (5844)	10/26/2003 4:49:53 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 10965

Daschle Joins Move to Shoot Down Some Liability of Gun Merchants By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, October 20, 2003; Page A21 The National Rifle Association has found an influential ally in Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), who introduced an amendment to legislation that would protect gun manufacturers and dealers from legal liability when crimes are committed without their knowledge. "The vast majority of gun owners, manufacturers and sellers are honest and law-abiding," Daschle said of his support for the bill. "It is wrong -- and a misuse of the civil justice system -- to try to punish honest, law-abiding people for illegal acts committed by others without their knowledge or involvement." Daschle's amendment would, among other things, clarify a product liability exception by providing coverage for reasonably foreseeable uses of a gun that aren't criminal. It would not protect gun makers from claims involving defective products or "straw purchasers," people who buy weapons for felons and others who are legally barred from having guns. The Senate bill has 55 co-sponsors and could come to the floor at any time. Daschle's involvement drew praise from Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president. "It's a constructive amendment," LaPierre said. "This is very important to the folks back in South Dakota." The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, however, has begun a major ad campaign criticizing the legislation. The ads focus on the Bull's Eye Shooter Supply, the source of the Bushmaster XM15 rifle that John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo allegedly used in the October 2002 Washington-area sniper shootings. The bill would give Bull's Eye immunity against lawsuits brought by the sniper victims or their families, according to its critics, though a minor left the store with a $1,600 military-style rifle. "This ad goes to the very heart of how the NRA is trying to corrupt the American justice system," said Michael D. Barnes, the Brady Campaign's president and a former Democratic member of the House from Maryland. "The NRA wields an unparalleled control over our political process that is unhealthy for a democracy and out of touch with the common sense of the American people," Barnes said. "The values of the NRA are not the values of Americans." LaPierre, of course, would beg to differ. "The NRA has no intention on this bill of shielding criminal activity in any way," he said. "It protects manufacturers of legal products from third-party suits if a third party misuses the product in a criminal act." The bill has passed the House. If the Senate adopts it, President Bush is likely to sign it. GOP's GOOD NEWS: House Republicans are doing their best to tout good news in Iraq. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) is announcing a new Web site, which will capture the "real stories and provide one-stop shopping for the media, people interested in what is really happening in Iraq and military groups," said DeLay spokesman Stuart Roy. The site (tomdelay.house.gov/IRAQ/ iraqindex.htm) includes pictures of lawmakers standing by newly minted schools, visiting Iraqis in new hospitals and posing with military personnel from their home states. The site has the headline "Victory in Iraq" and includes sections such as "How Media Deceive You About Iraq" and "Reconstruction in Iraq Vital in Winning War on Terror." THE WEEK AHEAD: The Senate plans to take up a "healthy forests" initiative and legislation on class-action lawsuits. The House is scheduled to consider energy legislation and possibly some appropriations measures.