Earlier today, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) voted for The Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (S. 397), legislation that will protect gun manufacturers and distributors from frivolous lawsuits filed when their products are used illegally. “The Second Amendment is the right that protects all of our other rights as Americans,” explained Congressman McHenry shortly after the bill passed. “For years, liberal judges and gun-control activists have been trying to eliminate that right because they hate guns, they hate hunting and they ultimately resent the fact that the founding fathers included the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights.”

Since Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, liberal activists have seen their attempts to enact gun-control legislation shut down at every turn. Since then, they have focused their efforts on the courts. Numerous individuals and liberal groups have filed lawsuits against firearms manufacturers, distributors and retailers in recent years, attempting to put them out of business by holding them liable for the actions of criminals.

“It is absolutely ridiculous to say that a gun manufacturer is to blame when a criminal uses one of their products in a crime,” said the Congressman. “These same liberals who make this argument often refuse to hold the criminal accountable that committed the crime! They feel society has let the criminal down and they can’t be blamed for their own actions. The scary thing is that some judges have bought into this liberal insanity. Now we must move to protect gun manufacturers from judicial harassment.”

Congressman McHenry acknowledged that he would like to see an even stronger bill passed to protect gun owners and manufacturers, but spoke of the need to enact this legislation immediately, “Although S. 397 is not perfect, we must ensure that domestic companies are able to produce firearms for law abiding citizens and not allowed to die a ‘death by a thousand lawsuits’ as the liberals would prefer to see.”