Jack Reed: “The legislation generally bars all suits involving negligence and restricts the exemption to some categories of specific…”

“The legislation generally bars all suits involving negligence and restricts the exemption to some categories of specific violations of Federal law which arguably, in your hypothetical, it would not reach. The only exception, to be fair to the legislation, that might allow someone to go to court under the concept of negligent entrustment, which as drafted in the legislation would say you have to suspect, know that the person would use the weapon illegally, and that person has to use the weapon. But most commonly what happens is there is a straw purchaser, so the negligent entrustment argument doesn't work because that weapon is not being used by that person; it is given to a third party. But I think the Senator's comment is exactly right. There are so many cases where this legislation has been carefully crafted to prevent people going to court, and the best examples are the ones of which we are already aware. The sniper case in Washington, DC, where a young teenager walked into a shop, shoplifted apparently a 3-foot assault weapon which was used to murder too many people here in the District of Columbia. That suit would be prevented by this legislation; in addition, the case of the straw purchaser and the police officer in New Jersey, prevented by this legislation.…”