Newtown Action Alliance Decries Sanders Gun Maker Immunity Remarks

NEWTOWN,CT- The Newtown Action Alliance denounced Senator Bernie Sanders after he made comments at the Democratic presidential debate in favor of keeping the gun manufacturer's broad immunity to lawsuits.

Sanders voted in favor of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which gives manufacturers and sellers immunity if their products are used to commit crimes, but were legally sold.

He didn't agree with a lawsuit filed by several Sandy Hook shooting victim families against the manufacturer, distributor and seller of the AR-15 used in the shooting.

“The NRA and Bernie Sanders could not be more wrong,” stated Po Murray, Chairman of the Newtown Action Alliance. “Repealing PLCAA would not end gun manufacturing in America. The gun industry had a vibrant manufacturing history before the PLCAA law was passed in 2005."

Related: Sanders and Clinton Spar on Gun Manufacturer Immunity

Murray said that the next president should rejct NRA rhetoric and stand with Sandy Hook families.

Sanders said that suing manufacturers wasn't the answer.

"...what you're really talking about is ending gun manufacturing in America. I don't agree with that," Sanders said, according to the Washington Post transcript of the debate.

Vice Chairman of Newtown Action Alliance Dave Stowe said Sanders seems to have a blind spot in his view on big business when it comes to the gun industry.

"It is troubling that when he bases his whole campaign on this concept that he somehow thinks it is ok that the gun industry enjoys immunities that no other industry in our nation enjoys and benefits that were gained as the result of the big business (the gun industry) rigging the system to give them significant legal protections not realized by any other industry," he said.

Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore, Flickr, used under Creative Commons