Congress moves to kill all pending gun violence lawsuits overnight
H.R. 9298 — Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts Act · Filed by Derek Schmidt (R-KS) · 121 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 11, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill dramatically expands immunity for gun manufacturers and sellers from lawsuits by victims of gun violence. It dismisses all pending lawsuits immediately, redefines key legal terms to make it nearly impossible to sue (e.g., requiring plaintiffs prove the manufacturer was the direct cause of harm, not just negligent), and allows gun companies to remove cases to federal court where they are more likely to win. The primary beneficiaries are firearms manufacturers and dealers; the primary losers are people injured by guns and their families, who lose their right to seek damages in court.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to eliminate civil liability for gun manufacturers and sellers by expanding existing immunity, dismissing pending cases, and raising the legal bar for plaintiffs to near-impossibility. It is functionally a liability carve-out for one industry.
What the text implies
- Immediate dismissal of all pending lawsuits means families of shooting victims currently in litigation lose their cases overnight, with no opportunity to present evidence or settle.
- The redefinition of 'proximate cause' to require direct injury by the defendant's unlawful conduct eliminates negligent entrustment and negligence claims—even if a seller knowingly sold to a dangerous person, the victim cannot sue.
- Federal removal and interlocutory appeal rights create a two-tier system favoring defendants: gun companies can move cases to federal court (where they have better odds) and appeal dismissal orders immediately, delaying resolution and increasing plaintiff costs.
- Preemption of state and local laws prevents states from creating their own gun liability standards, centralizing immunity at the federal level and blocking democratic accountability at the state level.
- The 'minor child exception' is narrow: children can only sue under the carve-outs (e.g., design defect), not for negligent entrustment or negligence, meaning a child shot by someone a seller recklessly armed cannot recover.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens—particularly those harmed by gun violence—lose a fundamental legal right to sue for damages. The bill eliminates access to courts for families of shooting victims and injured persons, while gun manufacturers gain near-total immunity from civil liability regardless of negligence or recklessness. This is a direct transfer of legal power from individuals to a narrow industry.
Who stands to gain
- firearms manufacturers
- gun dealers and importers
- ammunition manufacturers and sellers
- firearms accessories manufacturers
Named in the bill
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), firearms manufacturers, gun dealers, ammunition sellers, trade associations (firearms industry), 18 USC Chapter 44 (Federal Firearms Act), Internal Revenue Code Chapter 53, Arms Export Control Act, Export Control Reform Act of 2018, U.S. District Courts, State courts, Attorney General
Where it stands
121 cosponsors: 121 Republicans.
- Jun 11, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 11, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $2,530,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 58 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Derek Schmidt, the sponsor, reported $538,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Shooting Sports Foundation — $1,990,000 on 1 filing
- National Rifle Association of America — $540,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 9, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 17, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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