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Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act
To repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, and provide for the discoverability and admissibility of gun trace information in civil proceedings.
Summary
This bill repeals key sections of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which had provided liability immunity for firearms manufacturers and sellers in civil lawsuits. The bill makes the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives available for discovery and subpoena in civil proceedings and administrative proceedings. Gun trace information becomes admissible as evidence in civil lawsuits brought in state or federal court, on the same basis as other information. The bill allows parties in civil litigation to access and use gun trace data that was previously shielded from legal process.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
26 cosponsors
- Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-MD] (D-MD)
- Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] (D-WI)
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ)
- Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] (D-DE)
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL)
- Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL)
- Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA] (D-PA)
- Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (D-NY)
- Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO] (D-CO)
- Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI)
- Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA)
- Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ] (D-NJ)
- Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA)
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR)
- Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT] (D-CT)
- Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA] (D-WA)
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA)
- Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI] (D-RI)
- Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT)
- Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA)
- Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY] (D-NY)
- Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD)
- Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA)
- Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT)
- Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] (D-RI)
- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Richard Blumenthal’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT $9,500
- FREEPOINT COMMODITIES LLC $6,600
- ALIX PARTNERS $6,600
- PALANTIR $6,600
- KRUX INC. $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Richard Blumenthal → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jun 4, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. · senate
- Jun 4, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 4, 2025
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Booker, Mr. Coons, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Fetterman, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Hickenlooper, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Markey, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Reed, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Warren, Mr. Welch, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Wyden) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, and provide for the discoverability and admissibility of gun trace information in civil proceedings.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act”.
SEC. 2. REPEAL OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE PROTECTION OF LAWFUL COMMERCE IN ARMS ACT.
Sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (15 U.S.C. 7901, 7902, 7903) are repealed.
SEC. 3. DISCOVERABILITY AND ADMISSIBILITY OF GUN TRACE INFORMATION IN CIVIL PROCEEDINGS.
The contents of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the National Trace Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives shall not be immune from legal process, shall be subject to subpoena or other discovery, shall be admissible as evidence, and may be used, relied on, or disclosed in any manner, and testimony or other evidence may be permitted based on the data, on the same basis as other information, in a civil action in any State (including the District of Columbia) or Federal court or in an administrative proceeding. <all>
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