Senate panel approves limiting gun lawsuits

CARSON CITY - A bill to bar Nevada cities and counties from suing gun manufacturers won approval Wednesday on a 4-2 Senate Judiciary Committee vote.

The panel's action sends AB543, authored by conservative Assemblyman Don Gustavson, to the full Senate for approval.

Gustavson, R-Sun Valley, said he's aware of no Nevada lawsuits against gun makers. But he added he wants to head off the possibility of lawsuits of the sort filed by the cities of Chicago and New Orleans. He termed those actions frivolous.

"Those lawsuits are trying to put the responsibility on gun manufacturers. It's not the guns that are committing the crimes, it's the individuals," he said.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Mark James said the bill wouldn't prohibit lawsuits in federal courts, such as the tobacco lawsuit.

Senate Judiciary member Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, objected to curtailing the rights of anyone to sue, adding, "I tend to think a lawsuit's not frivolous unless a judge says it is."

Care was the only person to speak against the bill. Supporters of AB543 included Nevada Eagle Forum, Gun Owners of Nevada, Nevada Concerned Citizens and the Carson City Chamber of Commerce.

Gustavson compared pending court actions against gun manufacturers to the recent tobacco settlement between states and cigarette manufacturers.

"I don't think they should have been sued," he said of the tobacco companies. "The attorneys benefited more than anyone else."

Advocates of Gustavson's bill said lawsuits against gun manufacturers amount to bids to subvert the Second Amendment, but Care disagreed.

"I don't see this bill having to do with gun control. I think it has everything to do with control of the legal system. I don't care if it's guns, cars or clothes pins, I don't like taking away someone's right to sue," Care said.

Voting against the measure were Sens. Care and Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas. Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, abstained from voting.

Republican Sens. James of Las Vegas, Jon Porter of Boulder City, Mike McGinness of Fallon, and Maurice Washington of Sparks voted for the bill.

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