Repeal of this 2005 shield law would allow victims of gun violence -- and the cities and states that pay for cleaning up the results of gun violence -- to file class action lawsuits against gun makers and gun dealers. The gun industry almost collapsed under the weight of such lawsuits in 2005, until Congress passed this law. Just as the 1998 tobacco class action settlement sharply restricted tobacco advertising and sales, so class action lawsuits against gun makers and gun dealers would make them accountable for atrocities committed with their products.