guns and federalism

Dave Kopel reports on the passage of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act:

At approximately noon, eastern time, the House of Representatives voted to pass S. 397, 283-144. The bill, known as the "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act," has been endorsed by the White House, and now goes to the President for his signature.

Like anything Congress does, it's a mixed bag. It's a good ideal, but I would have voted against on federalism grounds, plus the fact that the Senate managed to add a couple of minor poison pills.

Naturally, statists everywhere are going nuts at the thought of the end of frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers:

Dennis Henigan, director of the legal action project at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, called the legislation "such an egregious piece of special-interest legislation, it is almost shameless." He said the law would violate a basic premise of tort law because it "retroactively bars lawsuits against a particular industry, even if the members of that industry behave negligently."

and:

D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams...said in a statement: "The entire community in the District is working hard to keep down gun violence. It's discouraging when members of Congress pass legislation that would inhibit our ability to hold accountable those individuals or corporate entities who contribute to the proliferation of firearms that are used in committing crimes."

The icing on the cake is the resignation of Michael Barnes, president and CEO of the Brady Campaign and Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, citing stress! Bwahahahaha!!!