Power grab by the gun lobby

With President George W. Bush and nearly all Republicans in its pocket, the gun crowd -- from the well-heeled manufacturers to friendly dealers like the one in Washington state that can't figure out how a semiautomatic assault rifle in its inventory got into the hands of the alleged Washington-area sniper duo -- is seeking that holy grail of the corporate irresponsibility movement, complete immunity from lawsuits seeking civil punishment for unsafe or negligent practices proved to a judge's or jury's satisfaction.

As things stand now, the gun lobby is still a handful of votes short -- six to be precise -- of the 60 needed to stop a filibuster. Their leader, Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho, is confident, and he just picked up support from a prominent Democrat -- Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, who might face a close reelection race next year in gun-friendly South Dakota.

Last week's defeat involved a national business drive to get the politicians to give businesses a better chance of defending against class action suits by turning conservative federalism doctrine on its head and forcing such legal actions out of state courts and into the federal system. Where money is involved, ideology always comes in second.

The gun lobby wants politicians to protect them from lawsuits seeking punitive damages from the results of safety problems that are shown to cause injury or death, and they want to avoid answering the claims of state and local governments (roughly 30) that allege negligent marketing and distribution practices that help get guns into criminals' or other unsafe hands. Moreover, they want all future lawsuits of this nature prohibited, and they want to stop those that have already started in the courts.

They portrayed themselves as victims of frivolous suits brought by unscrupulous lawyers out to ruin a law-abiding business that meets legal demand and bolsters the economy.

Thus, in announcing his support, Daschle said, "The vast majority of gun-owners, manufacturers, and sellers are honest and law-abiding." The PR language happened to track a campaign statement by President Bush three years ago, denouncing those who "sue somebody for manufacturing a legal product."

Obviously, that has nothing to do with the lawsuits, which seek to prove that specific actions or practices by defendants contribute to some provable injury. Instead, it has to do with denying a day in court to those who can prove their charges.

This is why the gun lobby quietly settled cases brought by localities in California -- they thought there was a good chance they would lose.

The best evidence of the gun lobby's bad faith is two examples of pending cases that would be stopped dead in their tracks if the Senate were to join the House in helping fix them.

One grew out of last year's sniper attacks here and is being brought by a survivor and the families of several who were murdered. Bulls Eye Shooters of Tacoma has no explanation for how the infamous Bushmaster weapon got into the hands of alleged killers John Allen Muhammed and John Lee Malvo. It also can't account for 236 other weapons according to federal audits over the last three years. Nonetheless, the Maine-based manufacturer of the firearm has sold the dealer all it has ever wanted to buy.

The other case involves the family of 26-year-old Danny Guzman, who was murdered on Christmas Eve 1999, in front of a Worcester club. The murder weapon, a 9mm handgun, lacked a serial number and was made by an industry powerhouse, Kahr Arms. It had experienced the theft of several firearms by employees who had criminal records and sold them for cash or drugs.

In addition, the legal complaint charged that the company (it recently bought the outfit that makes Thompson "submachine" guns) had no inventory tracking system worthy of the name. These cases may or may not have merit. The industry wants them fixed regardless. This is a case of a power grab that is disguised as protection against trial lawyers when in fact the industry seeks simply to avoid responsibility for unsafe practices that can be proved in court. Thomas Oliphant's e-mail address is oliphant@globe.com.