Gun Industry

Gun control advocates criticized Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. anew yesterday for his support of a bill that would give sweeping legal immunity to the gun industry. The bill, backed by the National Rifle Association, would bar certain kinds of lawsuits against gun dealers, manufacturers and trade associations. Ehrlich, a Republican running for governor, voted in favor of the measure yesterday as it passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill would not affect lawsuits claiming breach of contract or negligence on the part of the gun industry.

A gun industry program to distribute free gun locks to prevent accidental or impulsive shootings has caught on nationally, but not in Maryland. The state's Mass Transit Administration police and the provost marshal at Fort Meade have agreed to give out the locks, and Harford County officials are interested, but Howard and Baltimore County governments have declined. Unlike many other issues involving guns, this one appears largely apolitical. Brian Morton, spokesman for Handgun Control Inc., a gun-control group based in Washington, had faint praise for the program, which is sponsored by the National Sports Shooting Foundation, a gun industry trade group.

A gun industry program to distribute free gun locks to prevent accidental or impulsive shootings has caught on nationally, but not throughout Maryland. The state's Mass Transit Administration police and the provost marshal at Fort Meade have agreed to give out the locks, and Harford County officials are interested, but Howard and Baltimore counties have declined. Unlike many other issues involving guns, this one appears largely apolitical. Brian Morton, spokesman for Handgun Control Inc., a gun-control group based in Washington, had faint praise for the program, which is sponsored by the National Sports Shooting Foundation, a gun industry trade group.

As the National Rifle Association launched an attack on his gun-lock bill, Gov. Parris N. Glendening confidently predicted yesterday the landmark legislation will pass -- and said he's trading public money for votes to make sure that happens. Glendening said he was using his control of pork-barrel spending to ensure victory for his gun-safety legislation, which is scheduled for a critical House committee vote today. "I will use the full resources of this office to save the lives of our children," the governor said.

This is an edited excerpt of an editorial from the San Francisco Examiner, which was published Friday.THE SPECTER of a federal lawsuit should help turn up the heat on the gun industry to adhere to responsible manufacturing and distribution practices.A growing group of cities has been building a good case for a lawsuit that alleges that elements within the gun industry are well aware that their business practices are encouraging the flow of guns to criminals.For example, gun manufacturers get around certain states' tough gun laws by saturating nearby markets with more permissive regulations or channeling weapons through the tough-to-track gun shows, telemarketers or so-called "kitchen-table dealers."

WASHINGTON -- In a move to force the firearms industry to adopt safer ways of doing business, the federal government said yesterday that it was preparing a lawsuit against gun makers on behalf of the 3 million people who live in public housing projects, where shootings have taken a heavy toll for years.The White House and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have been laying the groundwork for the suit in recent months in hopes that the threat of federal action would intensify pressure on the gun industry to change how it makes and sells weapons, officials said.

Saying they want reform, not money, NAACP leaders filed a lawsuit yesterday demanding that nearly 100 gun manufacturers change the way they do business.The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., is hotly contested by America's powerful gun lobby because the changes would limit handgun sales and prohibit distributors from selling certain weapons to gun show dealers.Large firearms manufacturers such as Smith & Wesson, Remington and Glock Inc. are accused in the lawsuit of contributing, through negligence, to handgun-related deaths.

LAWSUITS claiming injury usually seek financial compensation. But a suit against gun manufacturers, dealers and importers being prepared by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People won't seek a dime. Instead, it will demand policy changes designed to curb the devastation of gun violence that disproportionately ruins African-American lives.The NAACP deserves credit for picking up the ball that Congress dropped on gun legislation in the aftermath of the Littleton tragedy and a school shooting in Georgia.

NEW YORK -- Joining a nationwide legal assault intended to strictly limit how guns are sold in America, the NAACP will announce today plans to file a federal lawsuit accusing dozens of handgun manufacturers and distributors of negligence.The lawsuit, which the NAACP expects to file in a Brooklyn, N.Y., court this week, would put the full force of the country's oldest and largest civil rights group behind a move to hold the gun industry accountable for crime.The suit follows the lead of 23 cities and counties -- including Chicago, San Francisco and Miami-Dade -- that have taken the gun industry to court.

Launching a local front in the national legal assault against firearms manufacturers, two city mothers filed a pair of potentially groundbreaking lawsuits in Baltimore City Circuit Court yesterday, blaming two large handgun makers for the accidental shootings of their young sons.Comparing guns to medicine that should be kept away from babies, the lawsuits argue that Sturm, Ruger & Co. of Connecticut and Lorcin Engineering Co. of Southern California are responsible for the self-inflicted shootings because they failed to make their weapons -- like America's aspirin bottles -- child proof.