There are some people who think guns get some kind of special dispensation within the law. This is popular with the "I wish women had the same rights as guns" crowd that can't seem to shut up. It's nonsense, of course, but some people really like to pretend otherwise. They like to pretend guns are treated differently than everything else.
But let's be real. Guns are treated differently than other products. It's just not the way they want you to think.
See, few other industries are facing threats of government regulation and intervention because of things that third parties do that are already prohibited by law, but that's what's happening in the firearm industry.
After the video montage of criminal violence, Chairman Durbin continued his opening remarks.
“Glock switches, which are banned under federal law are cheap, often costing less than $20, and they’ve been increasingly common across our country,” the chairman said. “We must act. Gun manufacturers can and should do more to ensure their products cannot be converted into illegal machine guns. If manufacturers fail to act, Congress should take up legislation to hold these companies liable for the foreseeable consequences of their actions.” Of course, the White House coordinated with Everytown and The City of Chicago to sue Glock under this baseless legal theory; and is the subject of an ongoing congressional investigation.
Chairman Durbin gives away his authority here as he knows well lawful firearm manufacturers cannot and should not be held liable for the criminal actions of unaffiliated remote third parties. This is the cornerstone of American jurisprudence and codified in the bipartisan Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) that countless gun control activists wish to eliminate. The chairman said it himself – these illegal firearm conversion devices like Glock switches are already illegal. Prosecutors need to get tough and hold criminals accountable for committing these horrible crimes.
Some argue that the PLCAA is more proof that guns are treated differently, but let's understand what the PLCAA does and why it exists.
It was created to deal with a particularly insidious series of lawsuits aimed at trying to punish the firearm industry for what third parties did with firearms. There was no wrongdoing by the gun manufacturers, who complied with all federal regulations. It was just a way to try and bankrupt gun companies or force them to stop selling to the general public.
The PLCAA ended that.
Some argue this creates special protections for the industry, and it may, but only because they are needed. For example, the auto industry doesn't get sued because of drunk drivers. If they did, we'd likely see similar protections put in place.
However, now the target is companies like Glock who find their firearms ending up in criminal hands and who are using devices that are illegal, that have been illegal since they were invented, and that cannot be lawfully purchased. Since most of them were made after 1986, the machine gun ban implemented that year means that no one can buy one even after jumping through all the NFA hoops.
The threat here is that Glock will face regulation if they don't change their entire design to accommodate for someone doing something illegal.
No other industry would face such threats.
For example, no one has ever threatened the auto industry because the window glass is too easy for thieves to brake or the cars are too easy to hotwire. No one sued door lock companies for failing to stop someone busting through the door.
But Glock is being threatened here.
The upside is that it's an empty threat. The PLCAA does mean that lawsuits can't really happen, but Congres can end those protections, so that's not what makes it empty. What does is the fact that Durbin isn't going to be calling any shots for the next two years at least. The incoming Congress doesn't exactly look like one inclined to punish a popular firearm maker that provides most of the guns used by law enforcement over what criminals do with devices they add that aren't even made by Glock in the first place.