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Gun Mfr. liability protection act

Here's the Senate text, which I gather is what the House passed today. And here's Dave Kopel's take on the statute, via the Volokh Conspiracy.

Interesting language in the findings and purposes section:

"SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

(a) Findings- Congress finds the following:
(1) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
(2) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the rights of individuals, including those who are not members of a militia or engaged in military service or training, to keep and bear arms.....

(b) Purposes- The purposes of this Act are as follows:
....
(3) To guarantee a citizen's rights, privileges, and immunities, as applied to the States, under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, pursuant to section 5 of that Amendment."

Prof. Volokh has made the point that those who argue for an "evolving" or "living" constitution have a serious problem with just who judges the evolution. If the people -- the majority of the US believes the right to arms is individual. If the Congress -- it has before enacted statements that the right to arms is individual (Freeman's Bureau Act in the late 1860s, the Firearms Owners' Protection Act in 1986, now this). If States -- all State constitutional movement for decades has been toward clarifying an individual rights understanding. So even if we hold to an "evolving" constitution, it has evolved toward stronger individual rights understandings. Unless, of course, the "evolving" position becomes so obvious as to admit "To hades with the American people, Congress, and the states -- it's 'evolving' in the minds of judges, and that's what counts."

The reference to the enforcement clause of the 14th Amendment (which says Congress may protect the rights guaranteed, by appropriate legislation) is very interesting, too. Don't have time to look it up, but as I recall there was some caselaw suggesting that enactments pursuant to the enforcement clause have special authority in interpreting what rights are guaranteed under the amendment. If so, this might some day carry some weight, since it ties the 14th rather specifically to buying and owning ordinary, individual, firearms.

· Gun manufacturer liability