Congress has delivered a lavish, and unnecessary, gift to the American gun industry, which suggests lawmakers are more interested in their own political futures than in public safety.

The new law, which President Bush is poised to sign, would exempt firearms manufactures from most liability lawsuits.

This for years has been the No. 1 priority of lobbyists for the gun industry, namely the powerful National Rifle Association. It is in response to the growing number of lawsuits filed or planned by individuals and government jurisdictions against gun manufacturers for crimes committed with their weapons.

The issue gained strength after the 2000 presidential election when some congressional Democrats noticed that Al Gore was losing votes because of his strong gun-control position.

To be fair, this law will not be a total shield from liability. Manufacturers could still be sued for selling defective weapons or knowingly ignoring rules, such as criminal background checks.

If this were truly a rational decision, Congress should be looking at shielding all manufacturers from liability when their products are used to cause harm. But it won't, because not every industry is as passionate nor has quite the political pull as the gun industry.

This law is particularly obnoxious because it seeks to retroactively undermine lawsuits already under way in dozens of jurisdictions. And that's wrong.

Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, celebrated the victory and insisted the gun industry deserves special protection because, unlike carmakers or drug companies, American firearms-makers "don't have deep pockets."

If this law stands the constitutional test, those pockets will soon become deeper, indeed.