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@ISIDEWITHQuestionsDomestic PolicyStarted 10yrs agoActive 2yrs ago

Should victims of gun violence be allowed to sue firearms dealers and manufacturers?

In 2005, Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). The law protects gun manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products. The law was passed in response to a series of lawsuits filed against the gun industry in the late 1990s which claimed gun-makers and sellers were not doing enough to prevent crimes committed with their products. Proponents of the law argue that lawsuits will discourage gun manufacturers from supplying stores who sell guns that end up being used in violent crimes. Opponents argue that gun manufacturers are not responsible for random acts of violence committed with their products.

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 3.2m America voters.

30%
Yes
70%
No
23%
Yes
60%
No
3%
Yes, any business should be held liable if the primary use of its product is for illegal activity
10%
No, manufacturers and dealers should only be held liable for negligence
2%
Yes, as long as the losing party pays all legal fees, it’s our constitutional right to sue anyone for any reason
2%
Yes, but only dealers

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from America voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @3WZMZGCfrom Washington  answered…6yrs6Y

Absolutely not. This is asinine and comparable to suing a hammer maker because you smashed your thumb. Even if someone smashed someone elses thumb, on purpose. It is not the fault of the tool maker. It is the responsibility of each person to handle those tools appropriately. Decisions come with consequences. Use a tool for harm, and that person should deal with those consequences, not a company who made it.

Firearms dealers should only be dealt with legally if they sold someone a gun without going through the proper process.

 @8MQHHXY from Louisiana  answered…6yrs6Y

I think that the people who make the guns should not be responsible unless if their products cause a huge number of problems worldwide.

 @8LYHYV4 from Maine  answered…6yrs6Y

Depending on if the firearm user is the one being injured, say you purchased a faulty firearm and attempted to fire it and it backfires on you, hurting your arm, then you should be able to fault the manufacturer or dealer, but only in that scenario.

 @8QPRM64 from Virginia  answered…5yrs5Y

For assault rifles only

 @585VTVHfrom Pennsylvania  answered…6yrs6Y

NO. Guns don't kill people; people kill people. If we start suing legally acting gun manufacturers and dealers, then we should also start suing knife makers and car makers, because people are routinely killed by those items also. Let's get reasonable, people; reserve your lawsuits for the entities who actually deserve them: the people who committed the violent act in the first place.

 @3WX5M4Ffrom Utah  answered…6yrs6Y

Yes, the constitution gives us the right to sue for any reason. It does not mean that the case should win in court but I would not prevent any one from suing for any reason.

 @8MN8DQ9 from Louisiana  answered…6yrs6Y

No, unless they had a true influence over the violence.

 @97SCG64 from Virginia  answered…4yrs4Y

For crimes involving assault rifles only

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…1yr1Y

Police "Didn't Return Fire" In Sweden Mass Shooting

It was about 12:30 p.m. on a gray Tuesday in Orebro, Sweden, when gunfire erupted at an adult education center, with students and teachers in class. Minutes later, as an alarm wailed, the police charged into the center, Campus Risbergska, where they encountered a chaotic, smoke-filled scene. It would be hours before they gave an all-clear.“An inferno. Dead people. Injured people. Screams and smoke,” Lars Wiren, Orebro’s police chief, said Thursday at a news conference as he described the scene.When officers entered the school on Tuesday, it was filled with smoke from pyrotechnics, Mr. Wiren said. The police came under a hail of gunfire so intense that officers could not tell how many shooters were on the scene, he added. Through the smoke, officers saw a man approaching them and carrying what appeared to be a rifle.The man continued to shoot, emptying several magazines of ammunition. In the chaos, none of the 130 police officers chose to return fire, the police chief said.“You have to respect the situation. There’s panic among the students, the teachers,” Mr. Wiren said. “There’s smoke. The circumstances must be right in order to fire.”After about an hour, officers later found the gunman among the dead. Near his body were three weapons, including the rifle. Scattered nearby were at least 10 empty magazines and unused ammunition, Mr. Wiren said.Police officers fanned out across the four-acre campus, searching for victims and possibly more perpetrators in an operation that lasted over three hours, according to a police timeline of events.In one of the classrooms, Hellen Werme and other students hid for at least two hours under tables and hospital beds used for training. As soon as shots rang out, they locked the door and hid on the far side of the room, she said. At one point, they heard the gunman pass by.“We were very quiet. He was close,” Ms. Werme, 35, recalled a day later. “I could hear his steps, but then the shots were further and further away.”

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Elizabeth Warren Walks Back Murder Comments

Congressional Democrats broadly denounced the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Friday morning, after Republicans started accusing Sen. Elizabeth Warren of excusing violence.“No one's condoning this,” said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.). “Violence never is the right answer for anything. And it was a horrible murder, a tragic loss for his family.” Warren this week condemned the shooting, but added that people “can be pushed only so far.”"We'll say it over and over," Warren said on MSNBC’S “The ReidOut.” " Violence is never the answer. This guy [Luigi Mangione] gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth, but you can only push people so far, and then they start to take matters into their own hands."In a statement to POLITICO, Warren said, “Violence is never the answer. Period. I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.” Top Republicans denounced Warren's comments and the walked-back rhetoric, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) calling it “inappropriate and dangerous.”Some House Democrats asked about the incident on Thursday pivoted the conversation to discuss policy options on health care or gun safety.“I don't really know that this is really a space that Congress normally weighs in on,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). “But at the end of the day, I think it’s an opportunity, because now people are talking about health care and to talk about the fact that this industry has honestly not been as helpful as it could be.”“Violence is never the answer,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.). “We know that there are people suffering, there’s great challenges in healthcare. There's great challenges, and people have, in fact, been wronged, but a process of governance is the way to address that, not violence.”And Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) who denounced the murder, said the killer should be prosecuted and that “I do know that allegedly a ghost gun was used, and we should also ban ghost guns. There's no reason for them beyond the streets.”

▲  1614 replies

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Based on 3.2m responses to this question.

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iSideWith. (2026). “Should victims of gun violence be allowed to sue firearms dealers and manufacturers?” — Public Opinion Poll Results. Retrieved June 25, 2026, from https://www.isidewith.com/polls/1732340000

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