Torricelli Wants Gun Makers Held Liable For Their Damage He Announced A Plan To Exclude The Industry From Limits On Lawsuits Against Manufacturers.

WASHINGTON — Saying firearms manufacturers should be held accountable for lives lost to gun violence, Sen. Robert G. Torricelli (D., N.J.) yesterday unveiled legislation that would exclude gun manufacturers from a proposal before the Senate that would restrict product-liability lawsuits.

Torricelli's bill, which has the support of Senate Democratic leaders, threatens to undermine a fragile compromise between the White House and Senate Republicans on the broader issue of restricting lawsuits against manufacturers.

At a Capitol Hill news conference, Torricelli said the Senate Democrats would prevent the product-liability bill from coming up for a vote unless Senate Republicans agreed to a vote on his proposed amendment.

``It is shocking that this Congress would give liability protections to an industry that is less regulated than the toy industry,'' Torricelli said. ``It should be clear to most Americans that there is no product manufactured and sold in America that is subject to more abuse and damaging to more lives than guns.''

Torricelli suggested that gun manufacturers should be held accountable under product-liability law when a gun malfunctions, causing injury, and also when a gun ends up in inappropriate hands, such as those of a minor who commits a crime.

Tobacco companies and the makers of breast implants are the only industries excluded from the lawsuit protections in the product-liability bill.

Torricelli and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), the other sponsor of the proposed gun amendment, said their prime interest was to force the gun industry to take precautions in designing and marketing its products.

But a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association contended yesterday that their real aim was to cripple the industry.

``The ultimate objective here is to put as many gun manufacturers as they can out of business and to make the guns so costly that people can't afford them,'' said Tanya Metaksa, chief NRA lobbyist.

The debate over guns took place as Republicans and Democrats in the Senate maneuvered over broader legislation that would restrict lawsuits against manufacturers of defective products.