Lake County Gazette

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker vowed to sign a bill that paves the way for gun sellers to be sued for marketing to young people, the Associated Press (AP) reported recently.

“Gun violence is a public health epidemic, and those who encourage unlawful use of a firearm or target sales of firearms to minors worsen the scourge of gun violence in our communities,” Pritzker said in a statement. “This legislation finally protects Illinoisans from predatory actions by the firearms industry.”

The Illinois House of Representatives previously approved the bill, with Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul leading the way. GOP lawmakers stood against the proposal en masse, the AP news report said. With Senate passage on May 18, the bill now goes to Pritzker for his signature.

The bill seeks to work within the boundaries of a federal law passed in 2005, the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. That law widely exempts gun makers from being sued for injuries caused by criminal misuse of their products, the AP report said. It provides exceptions such as for allegations that the manufacturer or seller violated state or federal law in the sale or marketing of firearms. Other exceptions in the federal law include defects or damages in gun design and negligence and/or breach of contract or warranty regarding the purchase of a gun.

Despite the exceptions in the federal law, it is still difficult to sue gun manufacturers, the AP report said. Firearms law expert Jacob Charles said that of the six exceptions in the law, at least three are “hardly ever used,” while the others have been applied “fairly narrowly.”

In addition to prohibiting marketing and sales of firearms to minors, the Illinois bill prohibits actions including "failing to establish or utilize reasonable controls; (ii) advertise, market, or promote a firearm-related product in a manner that reasonably appears to support, recommend, or encourage individuals to engage in unlawful paramilitary or private militia activity." 

Before last week's Senate vote, Illinois Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) called attention to an Illinois gun manufacturer's advertising campaigns aimed at teenagers for a “smaller, safer and lighter” rifle, dubbed the JR-15, modeled on the AR-15.

“This is how people are marketing guns to our children,” Harmon said.