Giffords Applauds Colorado’s State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee for Advancing Gun Violence Victims’ Access to Justice Bill

Denver, CO — Giffords, the gun safety organization founded by the former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, lauded Colorado’s State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee for advancing SB23-168, the Gun Violence Victims’ Access to Justice Bill. The bill would repeal Colorado’s extreme, anti-victim gun industry immunity law and create an opportunity for victims to seek fair justice in court when they are harmed by illegal and wrongful conduct by the corporate gun industry. 

Nico Bocour, Giffords Vice President, State Initiatives:

“We are grateful to the State, Veterans, & Military Affairs committee for advancing this legislation. Victims of gun violence should be able to hold the gun industry accountable for misconduct and seek justice when the gun industry acts egregiously. This bill will help reduce gun violence and keep our communities safe. No family should be forced into financial ruin after suffering the loss of a loved one due to gun violence. By providing victims with greater access to justice, we can help ensure that those who are responsible for gun violence are held accountable. We would like to thank Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis and Senator Chris Kolker for sponsoring this important bill and Senate President Steve Fenberg for his leadership on gun safety.” 

Vic Bencomo, President of the Colorado chapter of Giffords Gun Owners for Safety:

“As a combat veteran having served 22 years in the United States Navy, I supported and defended the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Above all else, I believe in a United States that is free, equal, and just. But currently, Colorado law deprives Americans – in fact, punishes them – for attempting to exercise their freedoms and take the people who have wronged them to court. In Colorado, the gun industry is shielded from civil lawsuits initiated by victims. Not only does this prevent justice from being served, but it actively punishes people who speak up and ask for change. We must support and pass The Gun Violence Victims’ Access To Justice And Firearms Industry Accountability Act so that victims and families are not left retraumatized.

Current Colorado law provides very broad immunity to the gun industry from many types of liability, slamming courtroom doors shut on cases even the federal gun industry immunity law (PLCAA) would allow. Even worse, Colorado is one of just 3 states in the country that forces victims who do try to sue the corporate gun industry to pay the corporation’s legal bills by default, punishing and bankrupting families just for daring to seek fair justice and corporate accountability in court. This legislation, the Gun Violence Victims’ Access to Justice and Firearm Industry Accountability Act would repeal Colorado’s extreme, anti-victim gun industry immunity law and allow victims to seek fair justice and accountability for gun manufacturers and dealers, accountability that every other industry is held to.

Sandy and Lonnie Phillips lost their daughter in the Aurora movie theater shooting. When they tried to hold the gun industry accountable, they lost their case and had to pay the legal fees of the defendants because of Colorado’s unjust law. Learn more about their story here.

BACKGROUND ABOUT GUN INDUSTRY IMMUNITY

• Colorado currently has an extreme law on the books that goes much farther than the federal gun industry immunity law and includes punitive anti-victim provisions that exist in only two other states.
• This current Colorado law provides very broad immunity to the gun industry from many types of liability. This state law has barred victims from bringing lawsuits even when the federal gun industry immunity law would allow them to go forward. This means that gun manufacturers, distributors, and sellers generally cannot be sued, even when victims can show that they were directly harmed by a gun industry member’s misconduct.
• Reforming Colorado’s industry immunity law is needed to protect future victims from bankruptcy and ensure victims of gun violence can seek fair justice in court. Reforming this law also levels the playing field for responsible businesses so the most aggressively irresponsible gun industry members don’t have a competitive advantage over businesses that take reasonable steps to protect the public. 
• Colorado’s gun industry immunity law has been used to shield the industry from lawsuits by victims of gun violence and their families.
• This bill would replace Colorado’s harmful gun industry immunity law with a new firearm industry standard of responsible business conduct and it would empower victims of gun violence to seek fair justice and compensation under this law if they can prove they were harmed by a specific industry member’s violation of that law.

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