But the Sandy Hook families argued that their lawsuit fell under an exception to this federal immunity. The exception allows gun violence victims to sue a manufacturer who “knowingly violated a state or federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing” of a firearm.
Remington Arms has agreed to settle liability claims from nine families whose loved ones were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The settlement agreement, announced Tuesday in a court filing, is the first time in the U.S. that a gun manufacturer has been held liable for a mass shooting.
The Sandy Hook settlement leaves unanswered the scope of the federal immunity shield, which thwarted all prior attempts to hold gun manufacturers responsible for the criminal misuse of their weapons.
Josh Koskoff, a lawyer representing the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims, speaks outside the Connecticut Supreme Court in this file photo from 2017. Josh Koskoff, a lawyer representing the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims, speaks outside the Connecticut Supreme Court in this file photo from 2017.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2014 by nine families of the victims in Sandy Hook and a teacher who was injured in the shooting. It names gun manufacturers and distributors Bushmaster, Remington, Camfour Holdings LLP, as well as Riverview Gun Sales Inc., the gun shop where the shooter's mother purchased the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle, ...
The state Supreme Court decision, however, paves the way for the suit to continue and for lawyers to access internal documents from the firearms companies. Lawyers for the gunmaker argued that there was no way for Remington to assess the shooter, and therefore no way they could have known what the gun would be used for.
The court's narrow decision, overturning a lower court judge, rules that Remington can be sued over its marketing practices under a Connecticut state law, despite protections offered to gun manufacturers by federal law. The ruling sends the case back to the lower court.
The court ruled, however, that Congress did not intend the PLCAA to preclude state law. Ultimately, the majority said, the plaintiffs should have the opportunity to prove that Remington violated the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) by marketing a military-style weapon to civilians.
A Connecticut Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2016, agreeing with lawyers for Remington that the case falls within the "broad immunity" gun manufacturers and sellers are afforded under the PLCAA. The state Supreme Court decision, however, paves the way for the suit to continue and for lawyers to access internal documents from the firearms companies.
Trial attorneys representing the families of nine of the twenty-six victims of the unimaginably horrific Sandy Hook shootings have finally wheedled the now-defunct Remington Outdoor Company’s insurers out of a $73 million settlement.
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