mr. speaker , i rise today in strong support of s. 397 , the protection of lawful commerce in arms act . 
as a gun owner , it troubles me that many interest groups and local municipalities have decided that the way to reduce gun violence is to put the manufacturers of firearms and firearm parts out of business through lawsuits and the fear of lawsuits . 
their actions run counter to the main purpose of gun ownership : protection . 
the second amendment was not written as a mere exercise in constitutional thought . 
it had a practical purpose : first , to ensure that citizens would have the tools to protect their families and their homes and , second , to ensure that an armed militia could be called up to defend the country in emergencies . 
but these lawsuits , mr. speaker , have the potential of crippling the american firearms industry , in the same manner as the threat of medical liability has crippled the medical industry . 
why would we want to go down that route ? 
why would we want to put firearms out of the reach of law-abiding citizens . 
s. 397 , and h.r. 800 , the companion legislation of which i was proud to be an original co-sponsor , would prohibit state and federal lawsuits against the gun industry for deaths resulting from unlawful actions of the user . 
in my estimation , mr. speaker , these lawsuits are a threat to our hard-earned second amendment rights . 
it is entirely proper that we should prevent such unconstitutional actions . 
i commend the gentleman from florida , mr. stearns , and chairman sensenbrenner for their hard work on this legislation , and i urge passage of the bill . 
