mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. speaker , i rise in strong opposition to this dangerous and misguided bill that would exempt gun dealers from liability even when they negligently sell weapons to criminals . 
it is particularly distressing that we are taking up this bill at this particular time . 
it was just 3 years ago this month , in october , when the community that i represent right outside here of washington , dc was terrorized by two snipers , who left 10 people dead and three people injured . 
the snipers obtained their weapons from a negligent gun dealer in washington state . 
mr. speaker , i have been struck by how some people in this institution and other places believe that the name given to a bill will somehow fool the american people as to what the bill actually does . 
this bill has the title on it protection of lawful commerce in arms act . 
in fact , what the bill does is to make lawful many negligent actions that today are unlawful . 
what it actually does is protect those gun dealers who are engaged in wrongful , negligent sales of weapons to criminals . 
how does it do it ? 
very simple . 
it lowers the legal standard of care that gun dealers must today exercise to prevent guns from falling into the hands of criminals . 
as a result , the passage of this bill will make it easier , easier , for criminals to get weapons and it will ensure that those gun dealers who negligently , negligently , put guns in the hands of criminals will not be held responsible for their wrongful actions . 
and it is a sad day , mr. speaker , in this body when special interests and the gun industry exert such influence that they are able to convince the congress to strip innocent victims of crimes of their rights and instead extend protections to those unscrupulous dealers who put guns into the hands of criminals . 
now , proponents of this legislation will tell us that most gun dealers in our nation are honest and law abiding . 
i agree . 
that is true . 
in fact , the bureau of alcohol , firearms , and tobacco has found that about 1 percent , about 1 percent , of gun dealers are responsible for nearly 60 percent of the guns that are traced to crimes . 
so if most gun dealers are honorable and responsible citizens , why do they need protection ? 
they do not . 
the real beneficiaries of this legislation are those small handful of dealers who are negligently putting guns in the hands of criminals . 
it is protecting the bad apples . 
it is giving them a green light to go ahead and say i see nothing when they are engaged in sales to wrongdoers . 
the proponents of this bill , as we have heard , will tell us it is only intended to stop so-called `` frivolous lawsuits. '' that notion has been soundly rejected by victim advocates across this country , and it is an insult to the victims who seek redress against those dealers who profit from negligently selling to violent predators . 
let us focus for a minute on the victims of gun crimes in our country . 
should we not be protecting them ? 
why do we not have a bill entitled the `` protection of gun violence victims '' on the floor today ? 
let us look at some cases . 
we have talked about the sniper case . 
i differ strongly with the chairman of the committee , and the bill , as the testimony has made clear , would not have allowed that suit to go forward . 
i represent that area where so many people lost their lives 3 years ago this month . 
on many sunny days when the snipers gunned down people who were going about their ordinary business , filling up their gas at gas stations , shopping at grocery stores , cutting their grass , a child who was going to school . 
before those snipers were caught , they killed 10 people and wounded three . 
the snipers have been caught , convicted , and they are behind bars . 
the snipers carried out those attacks with a bushmaster xm-15 semiautomatic .223 caliber rifle . 
the rifle came from bull 's eye shooter supply in tacoma , washington , which had an extensive history of firearms violations and had not reported the rifle as missing as required by federal law because they said they did not know the rifle was missing . 
according to the atf , this store and its owner had a long history of firearms sales and records violations . 
on january 16 , 2003 , the families of many of the victims of the sniper attacks who were killed brought a lawsuit against that gun store for their losses and injuries . 
the victims of that heinous crime spree received a $ 2.5 million settlement . 
let us be clear . 
if this law had been in effect at that time , those victims and their families would have received nothing . 
in fact , this bill was being debated on the floor of this house 3 years ago this month when those killings were going on , and this house realized how bad it would look to victimize those people twice , to have them victimized once by the snipers and again by the united states congress by denying their day in court , and that is why this house decided to withdraw the bill at that time from consideration from the floor of the house . 
here we are 3 years later coming back and passing legislation that would have denied them their right . 
shame on us . 
let us talk about another case . 
in new jersey , june , 2004 , two former new jersey police officers , ken mcguire and dave lemongello , were shot in the line of duty with a trafficked gun that had been negligently sold by a west virginia dealer . 
those two officers received a $ 1 million settlement for the negligence of this dealer . 
the dealer had sold the gun along with 11 other handguns in a cash sale to a straw buyer , a trafficker , someone who got the guns because he could legally obtain them but then turned around and sold them to a criminal who committed the crimes . 
if this bill had been in effect then , that case would have been dismissed and justice for those police officers would have been denied . 
and because of that , many law enforcement officers and organizations have written a letter opposing this bill , a copy , mr. speaker , which i will insert in the record . 
should we not be trying to create additional incentives to improve the business practices of these gun dealers , not give them a green light to be negligent ? 
what happened to protecting the victims ? 
this bill does just the opposite . 
it provides a shield to an industry that should be providing a standard of care at least equal to other industries and businesses . 
why do we want to make the gun industry the most protected industry in america ? 
it is inconceivable that we are here today at the behest of the gun industry to provide immunity that no other industry enjoys and at the expense of the victims of gun violence . 
this bill will shut the courthouse doors on many victims who have legitimate claims . 
in the interest of truth in advertising , the real name of this bill should be the `` protection of negligent gun dealers act. '' i urge my colleagues to oppose this . 
october 19 , 2005 . 
dear senator : as active and retired law enforcement officers , we are writing to urge your strong opposition to any legislation granting the gun industry special legal immunity . 
s. 397 would strip away the legal rights of gun violence victims , including law enforcement officers and their families , to seek redress against irresponsible gun dealers and manufacturers . 
the impact of this bill on the law enforcement community is well illustrated by the lawsuit brought by former orange , new jersey police officers ken mcguire and david lemongello . 
on january 12 , 2001 , mcguire and lemongello were shot in the line of duty with a trafficked gun negligently sold by a west virginia dealer . 
the dealer had sold the gun , along with 11 other handguns , in a cash sale to a straw buyer for a gun trafficker . 
in june 2004 , the officers obtained a $ 1 million settlement from the dealer . 
the dealer , as well as two other area pawnshops , also have implemented safer practices to prevent sales to traffickers , including a new policy of ending large-volume sales of handguns . 
these reforms go beyond the requirements of current law and are not imposed by any manufacturers or distributors . 
if immunity for the gun industry had been enacted , the officers ' case would have been thrown out of court and justice would have been denied . 
police officers like ken mcguire and dave lemongello put their lives on the line every day to protect the public . 
instead of honoring them for their service , legislation granting immunity to the gun industry would deprive them of their basic rights as american citizens to prove their case in a court of law . 
we stand with officers mcguire and lemongello in urging you to oppose such legislation . 
sincerely , international brotherhood of police officers ( afl-cio police union ) . 
major cities chiefs association ( represents our nation 's largest police departments ) . 
national black police association ( nationwide organization with more than 35 , 000 members ) . 
hispanic american police command officers association ( serving command level staff and federal agents ) . 
national latino peace officers association . 
the police foundation ( a private , nonprofit research institution ) . 
michigan association of chiefs of police . 
rhode island state association of chiefs of police . 
maine chiefs of police association . 
departments listed for identification purposes only : sergeant moises agosto , pompton lakes police dept . 
( nj ) ; sheriff drew alexander , summit county sheriff 's office ( oh ) ; sheriff thomas l. altiere , trumbull county sheriff 's office ( oh ) ; director anthony f. ambrose iii , newark police dept . 
( nj ) ; chief jon j. arcaro , conneaut police dept . 
( oh ) ; officer robert c. arnold , rutherford police dept . 
( nj ) ; chief ron atstupenas , blackstone police dept . 
( ma ) ; sheriff kevin a. beck , williams county sheriff 's office ( oh ) ; detective sean burke , lawrence police dept . 
( ma ) ; chief william bratton , los angeles police dept . 
( ca ) ; special agent ( ret ) ronald j. brogan , drug enforcement agency ; and chief thomas v. brownell , amsterdam police dept . 
( ny ) . 
chief ( ret ) john h. cease , wilmington police dept . 
( nc ) ; chief michael chitwood , portland police dept . 
( me ) ; chief william citty , oklahoma police dept . 
( ok ) ; chief kenneth v. collins , maplewood police dept . 
( mn ) ; chief daniel g. davidson , new franklin police dept . 
( oh ) ; asst . 
director jim deal , us dept . 
homeland security , reno/lake tahoe airport ( nv ) ; chief gregory a. duber , bedford police dept . 
( oh ) ; captain george egbert , rutherford police dept . 
( nj ) ; sterling epps , president , association of former customs agents , northwest chapter ( wa ) ; chief dean esserman , providence police dept . 
( ri ) ; and captain mark folsom , kansas city police dept . 
( mo ) . 
chief charles j. glorioso , trinidad police dept . 
( co ) ; superintendent jerry g. gregory ( ret ) , radnor township police dept . 
( pa ) ; chief jack f. harris , phoenix police dept . 
( az ) ; chief ( ret. ) thomas k. hayselden , shawnee police dept . 
( ks ) ; terry g. hillard , retired superintendent , chicago police dept . 
( il ) ; steven higgins , director ( ret. ) atf ; chief ken james , emeryville police dept . 
( ca ) ; chief calvin johnson , dumfries police dept . 
( va ) ; chief gil kerlikowske , seattle police dept . 
( wa ) ; deputy chief jeffrey a. kumorek , gary police dept . 
( in ) ; detective john kotnour , overland park police dept . 
( ks ) ; detective curt lavarello , sarasota county sheriffs office ( fl ) ; chief michael t. lazor , willowick police dept . 
( oh ) ; sheriff simon l. leis , jr. , hamilton county sheriffs dept . 
( oh ) ; and sheriff ralph lopez , bexar county sheriff ( tx ) . 
chief cory lyman , ketchum police dept . 
( id ) ; chief david a. maine , euclid police dept . 
( oh ) ; chief j. thomas manger , montgomery county police dept . 
( md ) ; chief burnham e. matthews , alameda police dept . 
( ca ) ; chief michael t. matulavich , akron police dept . 
( oh ) ; chief randall c. mccoy , ravenna police dept . 
( oh ) ; sergeant michael mcguire , essex county sheriff 's dept . 
( nj ) ; chief william p. mcmanus , minneapolis police dept . 
( mn ) ; chief roy meisner , berkley police dept . 
( ca ) ; sheriff al myers ; delaware county sheriff 's office ( oh ) ; chief albert najera , sacramento police dept . 
( ca ) ; chief mark s. paresi , north las vegas police dept . 
( nv ) ; sheriff charles c. plummer , alameda county sheriffs department ( ca ) ; chief edward reines , yavapat-prescott tribal police dept . 
( az ) ; chief cel rivera , lorain police dept . 
( oh ) . 
officer kevin j. scanell , rutherford police dept . 
( nj ) ; robert m. schwartz , executive director , maine police dept . 
( me ) ; chief ronald c. sloan , arvada police dept . 
( co ) ; chief william taylor , rice university police dept . 
( tx ) ; asst . 
chief lee roy villareal , bexar county sheriffs dept . 
( tx ) ; chief ( ret ) joseph j. vince , jr. , crime gun analysis branch , atf ( va ) ; chief garnett f. watson , jr. , gary police dept . 
( in ) ; and hubert williams , president , the police foundation ( dc ) . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
