Bloomberg reports that legislation has been introduced by a Democratic House member that would grant the federal government the authority to recall defective firearms. Gun makers, under current law, cannot be ordered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission nor the government to recall guns that are defective.
Michigan Representative Debbie Dingell’s legislation would allow safety warnings or recalls for defective guns to be issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Congress has blocked attempts numerous times that would allow the government to recall defective firearms. Dingell’s husband, John Dingell, was a former Representative in Michigan that blocked many of the legislations aiming to give recall authority of firearms to the government.
The last time the issue was seriously considered was in 1975. Both bills aimed at giving the Consumer Product Safety Commission the authority to regulate recalls on defective weapons. The second proposed bill failed miserably with a vote of 339-80.
Dingell claims that the Commission has the power to recall everything from light bulbs to bicycles, yet if a firearm poses a safety risk and is defective, the Commission is powerless. Fierce opposition from the National Rifle Association (NRA) has shot down many of the bills aimed at giving federal authority over defective guns.
Opponents of the bill claim that the legislation would give the government too much power over the industry.
Dingell’s legislation is in conflict with her husband’s push that helped keep the Commission from forcing defective firearms off of the market. Dingell is in her second term and is also co-chair of a House working group that focuses on gun violence. “If someone’s gun isn’t working right, the commission should be able to recall it,” claims Dingell.
She reportedly went home to her husband last month and told him that she would introduce a bill that would “correct” what her husband prevented over forty years prior.
