{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-joins-cornyn-senate-gop-colleagues-to-introduce-bill-to-increase-protections-for-firearms-industry-against-frivolous-lawsuits", "Crapo Joins Cornyn, Senate GOP Colleagues to Introduce Bill to Increase Protections for Firearms Industry Against Frivolous Lawsuits", "2026-06-15", "2026", "2026-06", "Republican", "Senate", "ID", "Mike Crapo", "C000880", "www.crapo.senate.gov", "crapo", "https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) and 14 of their Senate Republican colleagues to introduce the Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts (SHOT) Act, which would strengthen the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to better protect the firearms industry from frivolous lawsuits brought by anti-gun groups.\n\n\u201cLitigious activists should not be allowed to bankrupt lawful businesses for crimes they did not commit,\u201d said Crapo. \u201cThe SHOT Act would reinforce Congress\u2019s original intent by strengthening federal protections for members of the firearms industry, stopping meritless lawsuits and preventing costly legal abuse.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am a proud supporter of the PLCAA, which protects our firearms industry from the constant onslaught of frivolous attacks by the Radical Left, progressive officials and rogue activist judges,\u201d said Cornyn. \u201cThis legislation would strengthen the PLCAA to ensure it can continue to defend law-abiding Americans\u2019 Second Amendment rights against anti-gun groups\u2019 evolving tactics, and I urge the Senate to bring it to the floor for a vote as soon as possible.\u201d\n\nThe bill is also co-sponsored by Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), John Curtis (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Tim Sheehy (R-Montana), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Jim Justice (R-West Virginia), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska) and Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana).\n\nRepresentative Derek Schmidt (R-Kansas) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.\n\nBackground\n\nCongress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) 20 years ago to stop frivolous lawsuits brought by radical 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 frivolous suits that many other American industries enjoy.\n\nWhat current challenges exist for the firearms industry with the PLCAA?\n\nUnfortunately, the plain text of the PLCAA has been ignored and its protections chipped away. For example, in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, Mexico filed a lawsuit against firearms manufacturers alleging they caused cartel violence. The District Court judge hearing the case quickly dismissed the suit under the PLCAA, but a panel of liberal judges on the First Circuit ignored the PLCAA\u2019s text and reversed the lower court, necessitating the Supreme Court\u2019s involvement. While a unanimous Supreme Court emphatically dismissed the suit, the entire charade cost firearms manufacturers an exorbitant amount in legal fees.\n\nWhat would the SHOT Act do?\n\nThe Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts (SHOT) Act would address the anti-gun lobby\u2019s tactics that undermine the PLCAA\u2019s protections 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; and\n\nExpand the definition of a \u201cseller\u201d of a qualified product.\n\nThe Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts (SHOT) Act is endorsed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).\n\n###", 1, "2026-06-16T06:53:21Z", "2026-06-16T06:55:02Z"]], "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.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-joins-cornyn-senate-gop-colleagues-to-introduce-bill-to-increase-protections-for-firearms-industry-against-frivolous-lawsuits"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7637068629264832, "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"}