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AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print Sep 27, 2007
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97/11/1991    most recent
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November 2007, Vol 97, No. 11 | American Journal of Public Health 1991-1997
© 2007 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.092544

GOVERNMENT, POLITICS, AND LAW

Availability of Litigation as a Public Health Tool for Firearm Injury Prevention: Comparison of Guns, Vaccines, and Motor Vehicles

Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH, Lainie Rutkow, JD, MPH and Daniel A. Salmon, PhD, MPH

Jon S. Vernick is with the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Center for Gun Policy and Research, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. Lainie Rutkow is with the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. At the time of this study, Daniel A. Salmon was with the Department of Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205 (e-mail: jvernick{at}jhsph.edu).

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), enacted in 2005, grants the firearm industry broad immunity from liability. The PLCAA not only prevents most people from receiving compensation for their firearm-related injuries, it erodes litigation’s ability to serve its public health role of providing manufacturers with a financial incentive to make their products safer.

When the viability of the vaccine industry was threatened in the 1980s, Congress provided limited protection from liability and also established the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The liability of nearly all other products, for example motor vehicles, is governed by traditional common law principles.

The absence of both litigation and product safety rules for firearms is a potentially dangerous combination for the public’s health.






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