To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Repeal gun manufacturer immunity to lawsuits
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence
The children of Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT were denied all of these. They were hideously shot multiple times and died soaked in their blood and the blood of their teachers. We the undersigned of this petition believe that their families deserve a chance at some justice for this matter by repealing the gun manufacturer immunity to lawsuits.
We seek that the law be replaced with a law that would lessen the chances of future incidents from happening: (1) create a consumer protection board to review gun advertisements for manufacturers and the National Rifle Association to ensure that they are not marketing to criminal (as in Merrill v. Navega) and people with mental illness; (2) laws and money to conduct adequate background checks to ensure that those who are criminal or have severe mental illness cannot purchase a weapon; (3) banning assault weapons (4) 7.8 billion added to the budget for a grant program to put officers in the school 125,000 public schools armed with nonlethal weapons; (5) create a system for training gun safety and grant licenses necessary for people who own more than a rifle or shot gun (license level grants access to type of weapon a person can own); (6) increase the MH budget by 25% to offset the cuts many states have imposed; (7) reduce the ratio of counselors to students from 1:600 to 1:300 and (8) a banning clips that hold more than ten shots. American’s deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They deserve to not have these rights taken away by a crazed person with a gun.
Why is this important?
On October 26, 2005, President Bush signed into law S. 397, the "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act." This bill prohibited victims of the gun industry's negligent practices from filing lawsuits in America's courts. We seek the repeal of that law. This would allow the families to seek justice (not that anything can be done to replace a lost child) in the court system, as well as countless other families who have experienced gun violence to seek such justice.
The Unites States has a staggering gun problem. In 2007, a total of 31,224 firearm-related deaths due to suicide and 12,632 deaths from gun related homicide. This needs to be addressed in a comprehensive program; however, the first step is to stop manufacturers from marketing guns to people who should not be able to obtain them (those who are either criminal or severely mentally ill).