This Tuesday Democrats in the House and Senate introduced dangerously misguided legislation. Under the guise of protecting you they moved to hold manufacturers liable for crimes committed with their products. The measure seeks to repeal legislation passed in 2005. That measure enacted protections for industry based on illegal use, abuse and resultant injury and damage.
Understand what we are looking at…
This a Democrat shot a guns. It has the side benefit of crippling capitalism and the economy. The measure leads to equivalent litigation against all manufacturers in all industries. The analogy is blaming Ford or General Motors for the negligent use of cars they once manufactured. It is wrong to hold any other industry liable for the criminal misuse of products sold lawfully and non-defective.
The concept seems fairly simple and straight forward. This is law that only lawyers and socialists could love. Lawyers love it because of the billable hours it would produce. Socialists love it because they want to end free markets, trade and property rights.
It is the elimination of personal responsibility.
Think about what this would mean. Any manufacturer selling their product would be held liable for its use. It would be held responsible for abuse or misuse. The manufacturer would be responsible for any and all resultant injury or damage. They would be responsible forever… regardless who owns the product, regardless what it is used for. Manufacturers would be responsible whenever it happens wherever it happens.
The concept of personal responsibility would be permanently eliminated from American society. This will stop manufacturers from selling products at reasonable prices. They will have to increase all prices enough to cover legal costs and settlements due to the change in law. The courts will extend the logic to farmers and other producers too. What use is the entire concept of negligence?
Conclusion:
There is a reason why legislators do not deserve a raise. Introduction of frivolous legislation such as this amounts to political grandstanding. It is the definition of bad judgment. It has nothing to do with the best interests of the nation, commerce, or security. If passed it would be detrimental to our way of life on its face. If passed it would cost consumers trillions of dollars annually. But then again it is a Democrat proposal. They simply do not care what anything costs or what that means to our future. Special interest political donors paid for the effort to pass this. If we follow the money trail, will it lead off shore?