Angie Craig: “we have just heard the arguments of Senator Lautenberg in relation to his amendment. I most assuredly in no way question…”

“we have just heard the arguments of Senator Lautenberg in relation to his amendment. I most assuredly in no way question the sincerity of the Senator and the environment in which this amendment has been offered. But if I can be as direct as I can be, if you want to drive a truck through the middle of the bill, then the Lautenberg amendment accomplishes just that. In the name of children, yes, and we should be sensitive to children. Of course we are. Children are as protected under this proposed law as anyone else because this law says go after the criminal, don't go after the law-abiding gun manufacturer or the law-abiding gun seller. But if there is negligent entrustment, if that can be proven, certainly if that seller or if that gun dealer or manufacturer is negligent, then anyone can and should bring lawsuits. It is the same issue we faced on previous amendments trying to carve out a special class that gets favored treatment beyond another class, and with children, certainly that would sound like we would want to be more sensitive. Most of us in the Senate are parents, but you don't have to be a parent to grieve over a child's injury or a child's death. We have many laws on the books at both the State and the Federal level, and some of them are placed by this very Senate to protect our Nation's most vulnerable--our children.…”