At least four types of federal safety standards cover teddy bears:
sharp edges and points, small parts, hazardous materials, and flammability.
 There
are no federal safety standards for the domestic manufacture of
guns.
Guns:
Inherently Dangerous and Unregulated
Guns, like prescription
drugs, insecticides, household chemicals, and many other products
commonly found in American homes, are inherently dangerous. They
cannot do what they are designed to do without risking injury to
the user or bystanders. But there's a big difference between guns
and other inherently dangerous consumer products: guns are not regulated
for health and safety.
Yet
many Americans believe that guns are subject to the same health
and safety regulations as other consumer products. A 1998 National
Opinion Research Center (NORC) survey found that 71 percent of Americans
thought that guns were regulated by federal safety standards.
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Toys and
Cars: Regulated for Safety more than Guns
Even products that aren't
inherently dangerous, from children's toys to food and cars, are
regulated for safety more than guns. Congress has given regulatory
authority to federal agencies to assure that virtually every consumer
product in America is safe. For example:
-
the
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulates the safety
of consumer products used in the home, at schools, and in recreation;
-
the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authority over foods,
drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices;
-
the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sets
safety standards for cars; and
-
the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in charge of toxic
chemicals and pesticides.
By comparison, no federal agency has the power to ensure that guns
manufactured and sold are safe. Also, no federal agency has the
authority to ban firearms technology that poses an unreasonable
risk to public safety.
-
No
federal health and safety agency has the authority to recall
defective guns or force changes in design.
Just imagine if car companies could introduce new cars with no built-in
safety protection, if drug companies could sell untested drugs at
will, or if there were no requirements for the safety and inspection
of meats, but that's what we have given the gun manufacturers!
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The
Result: A Grim Record of Death and Injury
The result
is a gun industry with a grim record. Since 1960, more than one
million Americans have died in firearm homicides, suicides, and
unintentional shootings. In 1997 alone, 32,436 Americans died by
gunfire, and nearly twice that number are treated in emergency rooms
each year for nonfatal firearm injuries. By conservative estimates,
the cost of providing medical care for firearm-related injuries
is estimated to be $4 billion a year, with much of the financial
cost passed on to private health insurance subscribers and taxpayers.
No other
consumer industry in the United States has been allowed to evade
review of a
product that causes so much social and economic harm. To put this
remarkable situation
into perspective, imagine if an airliner full of passengers
crashed every week since 1996,
that's the equivalent of one year of gun deaths!
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Responsible Regulation:
A History of Success
The
history of consumer product regulation teaches that a significant
number of deaths and injuries can be prevented by safety standards.
More than 30 years ago, the United States made prevention of deaths
from motor vehicle injuries a national priority. As a result, the
death rate from motor vehicle crashes was cut nearly in half. An
estimated quarter of a million deaths have been prevented. We can
and must do the same thing with guns.
The first step toward comprehensive regulation of the firearms industry
is to recognize firearms for what they are, inherently dangerous
consumer products. The second is to design a comprehensive, workable
regulatory framework.
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Legislation: The Most
Comprehensive Approach
The
public supports federal regulation of guns. The most recent NORC
survey, conducted in 1999, found that 66 percent of Americans want
the federal government to regulate the safety design of guns.
There is a bill in Congress that would do just that. The Firearms
Safety and Consumer
Protection Act would subject the gun industry to the same health
and safety regulation as virtually all other products sold in America.
The bill would give the Department of the Treasury strong consumer
protection authority to regulate the design, manufacture, and distribution
of firearms and ammunition. This legislation would finally end the
gun industry's deadly immunity from regulation.
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The
Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection Act:
A Promising
Proposal
The
Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection Act would not limit the
public's access to guns for legitimate sporting purposes. Just as
regulation of pesticides did not lead to an outright ban on their
use, neither would expanding the Department of the Treasury's authority
result in a gun-free United States. This is what it would do:
-
decrease
gun death and injury by identifying firearms that are exceptionally
prone to use in homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings,
and restrict the availability of such guns.
Currently,
Congress has responded to new firearms technology in a limited,
piecemeal fashion that leaves gaping loopholes for the firearms
industry to exploit. Instead, Congress needs to give the Department
of the Treasury the power to regulate guns as consumer products,
with authority to:
-
set
minimum safety standards for guns;
-
issue
recalls and warnings about defective guns;
-
collect
data on gun-related death and injury; and
-
ban
products when no other remedy is sufficient.
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Consumer
Federation of America and the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition:
Organizing for Change
Consumer
Federation of America (CFA) and the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition
support the enactment of The Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection
Act, which would give the Department of the Treasury consumer
protection authority to regulate guns and ammunition as consumer
products. CFA is encouraging members of Congress
to cosponsor, and proactively support passage of, The Firearms
Safety and Consumer Protection Act.
For more information about the Consumer
Federation of America Foundation and its work to regulate guns
as consumer products, please visit its website at
www.consumerfed.org
.
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