Gun dealers and manufacturers should be held responsible for negligent and irresponsible sales practices that lead to an individual’s injuries or deaths, and for selling firearms to somebody likely to harm themself or others. Manufacturers who design firearms without life-saving safety features, such as chamber-loaded indicators and magazine disconnect safeties, should also be held liable for their design failures.

PLCAA denies victims their constitutional right to civil justice under the 5th Amendment, preventing them from receiving compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other debilitating effects of gun violence.

The Superior Court of Pennsylvania recognized the unconstitutionality of PLCAA, ruling that states have the authority to hold negligent gun dealers accountable in court and victims have the right to seek civil justice against wrongdoers who cause them harm.

The latest available data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) reveals that just 2.7% of dealers accounted for over 71% of crime gun traces. This small minority of gun dealers, that are the sources of crime guns recovered in communities of color, typically sit outside those communities in less diverse and more affluent suburbs.

Residents of these impacted communities suffer from the chronic stress of daily interpersonal gun violence and the negative effects on their communities’ economic prosperity, without recourse or compensation, while irresponsible gun dealers face no consequences.

While gun violence touches Americans across the country, it disproportionately impacts communities of color. Approximately 80% of America’s gun deaths occur in urban areas with large minority populations. Black Americans are 11 times more likely than their white peers to be the victim of firearm homicide, and this problem is exacerbated for Black males, who lose four years in life expectancy based on gun violence alone.

The threat of civil liability motivates companies to adopt safe business practices. For example, car manufacturers made numerous safety improvements that have cut automobile-related deaths by 50% since the 1960s, primarily because of advancements spurred by fear of liability.

PLCAA effectively removed this motivation for the gun industry, disincentivizing gun dealers from adopting safe sales practices, gun manufacturers from incorporating affordable life-saving safety devices into their products, and the gun industry from monitoring their distribution practices.

These common gun industry practices create the conditions necessary for most gun violence to occur. The limitations on litigation and the ability to hold the industry accountable prevent public awareness and deter regulatory changes, as well as disincentivize independent action by the industry to avoid liability — all of which would reduce gun violence and save lives.