{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.capito.senate.gov/news/press-releases/capito-republican-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-increase-protections-for-firearms-industry", "Capito, Republican Colleagues Introduce Bill to Increase Protections for Firearms Industry", "2026-06-16", "2026", "2026-06", "Republican", "Senate", "WV", "Shelley Moore Capito", "C001047", "www.capito.senate.gov", "capito", "https://www.capito.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Recently, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) joined Senate Republican colleagues in introducing the Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts (SHOT) Act, which would strengthen the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to provide enhanced protections to the firearms industry from lawsuits brought by anti-gun groups.\n\n\u201cI am proud to join my Senate Republican colleagues to introduce the SHOT Act, legislation that strengthens protections for lawful firearms manufacturers and retailers against politically motivated lawsuits while safeguarding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. West Virginians are staunch defenders of our right to bear arms, and I will always advocate to protect our Constitutional freedoms,\u201d Senator Capito said.\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nThe Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) was passed by Congress 20 years ago to stop lawsuits brought by anti-gun groups against the firearms industry. These lawsuits, premised solely on the actions of third parties who misuse firearms in a manner beyond the industry\u2019s control, sought to bankrupt the firearms industry. In response, the PLCAA provided the firearms industry with basic immunity protections from suits that many other American industries enjoy.\n\nThe Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts (SHOT) Act would address tactics the anti-gun lobby has taken to go after firearms manufacturers and undermine the PLCAA\u2019s protections, along with holdings by judges, by establishing new provisions under the law that would:\n\nDelineate a standardized process for removing and dismissing baseless actions brought against the firearms industry;\n\nRequire complaints premised on an exception to the PLCAA\u2019s protections to be pled with particularity, including providing the facts necessary to establish scienter and proximate cause;\n\nCreate an interlocutory appeal as of right for industry defendants if a motion to dismiss based on the PLCAA\u2019s protections is denied;\n\nGrant a defendant who asserts immunity under the PLCAA and prevails attorneys\u2019 fees and court costs;\n\nClarify that the PLCAA\u2019s protections preempt state or local laws;\n\nMake plain that foreign governments may not bring a qualified civil liability action against a defendant in U.S. federal or state courts;\n\nUpdate the definitions of a \u201cqualified product\u201d to include firearms accessories such as magazines and optical devices;\n\nRevise the definition of a \u201cqualified civil liability action\u201d to make clear that any claim premised on an exception to immunity requires the plaintiff to be directly injured by a defendant, and that nuisance or negligence claims do not qualify as an exception;\n\nAnd expand the definition of a \u201cseller\u201d of a qualified product.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-06-17T06:49:24Z", "2026-06-17T06:50:53Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.capito.senate.gov/news/press-releases/capito-republican-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-increase-protections-for-firearms-industry"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9055817499756813, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}