A Law That Keeps Gun Makers Smiling
Two pictures.
A line of tobacco executives stood in Congress one day in 1994 with their right hands raised, just before they swore, one by one, that they did not believe nicotine was addictive.
They looked miserable: within a few years, their companies would be paying out hundreds of billions in damages for the illnesses caused by smoking.
For happier faces, you could look at a picture taken in the Oval Office when President George W. Bush signed a bill in 2005. Surrounded by beaming gun manufacturers, Mr. Bush put the final touch his signature on a piece of legislation that would make it very difficult for anyone hurt by gun violence to sue the makers for injuries.
And why wouldnt they be smiling?
The law signed that day, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, has smothered lawsuits by cities around the country, including by New York, that sought to force manufacturers to be more careful in how they sold and distributed guns.
Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/nyregion/a-law-that-keeps-gun-makers-smiling.html
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)Statement on Signing the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994
In 1978, U.S. general aviation manufacturers produced 18,000 of these aircraft for domestic use and for export around the world. Our manufacturers were the world leaders in the production of general aviation aircraft. By 1993, production had dwindled to only 555 aircraft. As a result, in the last decade over 100,000 wellpaying jobs were lost in general aviation manufacturing. An innovative and productive American industry has been pushed to the edge of extinction. This Act will allow manufacturers to supply new basic aircraft for flight training, business use, and recreational flying.
The Act establishes an 18-year statute of repose for general aviation aircraft and component parts beyond which the manufacturer will not be liable in lawsuits alleging defective manufacture or design. It is limited to aircraft having a seating capacity of fewer than 20 passengers, which are not engaged in scheduled passengercarrying operations.
In its report to me and to the Congress last August, the National Commission to Ensure a Strong Competitive Airline Industry recommended the enactment of a statute of repose for general aviation aircraft. The report indicated that the enactment of such legislation would "help regenerate a once-healthy industry and help create thousands of jobs." I agree with this assessment; this is a job-creating and jobrestoring measure that will bring good jobs and economic growth back to this industry. It will also help U.S. companies restore our Nation to the status of the premier supplier of general aviation aircraft to the world, favorably affecting our balance of trade. Therefore, as I sign into law the "General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994," I am pleased to acknowledge the bipartisan work done by the Congress and by all the supporters of the general aviation industry.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
The White House, August 17, 1994
Anyone with a shred of honesty in their body, knows that the real purpose of these blizzards of lawsuits with tobacco, guns or whatever is to force an end to something that some people hate.
An end to a thing that the Prohibitionists can not achieve by direct means in Legislatures who are elected by the people. Rather by indirect means through the Courts, where the Judges and Justices in most cases are not elected, rather appointed, with little fear of being removed for making poor decisions.