Would you like litigation with that?Burgers and guns are two things our nation loves, but both are threatened by what has become the national pastime - no, not baseball - litigation.
There are those who argue that burgers and guns are both inherently dangerous. According to this logic, someone who eats too many burgers and develops heart disease should be able to sue the fast-food restaurant that served them platters of fat and calories. On the gun side, the litigious among us claim that if a gun is used to commit a crime, the gun manufacturer should be the target of a civil lawsuit by the victim. Whether frying meat or manufacturing rifles, businesses can be sued just for selling their products legally to people who buy them of their own free will.
While such lawsuits might sound frivolous, businesses still have to defend against them and spend money paying attorneys to file motions just to get such suits dismissed. Fast-food and firearms businesses also have to deal with 50 different states having 50 different ways of handling such cases. While it might be easy to get these suits dismissed in 45 states, there might be five states that take such silliness seriously, causing businesses to get bogged down in litigation that can seem to drag on endlessly. Furthermore, the attorneys who file these suits are sometimes funded by activist groups that do not make victory in court their top priority - causing havoc and shaking up the system are their more immediate concerns.
The judicial system seems unable to adequately control this problem, so, unfortunately, the legislature needs to step in. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, is co-sponsoring two bills in the U.S. House of Representatives that would prevent such suits. People would still be able sue a fast-food restaurant for negligence or file a lawsuit against a company that makes defective guns. The new laws would merely protect these businesses from being sued for what they sell.
It is seldom a good idea to try to solve a problem by creating yet more legislation, but in this case, there appears to be no choice. There are three branches in our American form of government, and when one of those branches isn't working properly (in this case the judicial system), it is up to one of the other branches (in this case the legislature) to step in to remedy the situation. While Rep. Cannon's bills would create more government, they would also keep government off the backs of businesses by keeping those businesses from having to show up in government courts so often.
This is ultimately about more than just burgers and guns. It goes right to the heart of our freedom as Americans to make decisions for ourselves.
Our decision is to have a cheeseburger with grilled onions and extra pickles - but hold the litigation.
http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050519/OPINION01/505190327/1014.
