1/ @POTUS's commitment to repeal the special legal immunity (PLCAA) the gun industry enjoys is a BFD...this THREAD explains why, follow along... https://twitter.com/GunsDownAmerica/status/1380197062680178695

2/ PLCAA came out of a slew of legal challenges in 1990s & early 2000s that culminated in an effort to sue gunmakers for continuing to knowingly sell guns to dealers who regularly funneled weapons to criminals and for failing to include safety features that could've saved lives.

3/ In 2000, Smith & Wesson settled several of these civil lawsuits and agreed to sell safety devices with its hand-guns and hold its authorized dealers to a certain code of conduct.

4/ 4 years later, Bushmaster agreed to alter its distribution practices after families of the victims killed by the DC Snipers sued the manufacturer & Bull’s Eye Shooter Supply for negligent sales practices

5/ The lawsuits changed behavior, but they posed a financial threat to the gun industry & so in 2005, @NRA successfully lobbied Congress to pass PLCAA, which prevents victims or survivors from suing a gun manufacturer or dealer when the shooting is negligent or criminal

6/ Why this is radical:

We can sue say General Motors if it makes cars that can’t withstand minor crash. The person who crashes is partly responsible but GM can be held liable for producing steering wheels that hurt drivers in collisions or brakes that don’t work under stress

7/ Manufacturers of a product must prepare for the worst, for reality, not for best-case scenarios.

But gun industry & NRA pushed through a law to exempt them from **this very basic principle that defines the relationship between corporations and the public**

8/ And her's where it gets outrageous.

Under PLCAA gunmakers cannot be held liable for marketing firearms in a way that feeds an illegal market and allows guns to be used by criminal syndicates, nor can they be sued for failing to implement safety features that could save lives

9/ So when a 13-year-old boy pulled the trigger of his father’s handgun because he believed it was unloaded and unintentionally killed his friend, the Illinois Supreme Court dismissed the family’s lawsuit against the gunmaker, Beretta.

10/ The court found that the boy acted as a criminal in a negligent way and absolved the gun manufacturer from any potential liability.

11/ The family claimed Beretta could've prevented the tragedy if it included additional features like an internal lock or a chamber-loaded indicator.

But the case was never considered on its merits.

12/12 The incentives here become all screwed up.

Gun industry faces no pressure, financial or otherwise, to manufacture safer guns. In fact they compete on producing ever more deadly firearms and accessories -- that must change & I'm so glad @POTUS will fight for PLCAA repeal.