Sandy Hook Families Allowed to Sue Remington

A protester interrupts a press conference by NRA Vice President Wayne Lapierre. (Flickr)

Seven years after the horrific mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Supreme Court allowed a lawsuit brought forth by victims’ families against the gun manufacturer Remington to proceed on November 12. According to NPR, the families of nine victims are suing for wrongful death, based on provisions of a Connecticut state law called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). 

The law was intended to protect arms manufacturers from being sued by victims of gun violence. The suit, however, alleges that the PLCAA does not protect gunmakers from being sued for malicious advertising. 

The victims believe that Remington should have never marketed military-grade weapons to the public, and claim that the company purposefully targeted young adult males in their advertising. In legal briefs, the plaintiffs argue that the AR-15 was, “designed as a military weapon” and “engineered to deliver maximum carnage.” 

The AR-15 has been used in 7 of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in US history, and a study done at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that if an attacker uses a semiautomatic firearm like an AR15, it doubles the chances of a victim being wounded or killed. 

The suit has been shuffled around the judicial process several times. In 2014, the families of nine of the victims filed a class-action lawsuit against the gun manufacturer, BBC reports. After a Connecticut judge dismissed the case, the families appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court in early 2019, New York Daily News says. Only by a narrow 4-3 vote did the appeal make it through the state Supreme Court, according to Slate, finding that the PLCAA does not stop liability for wrongful advertising. The court wrote in the majority opinion that Connecticut law “does not permit advertisements that promote or encourage violent, criminal behavior,” according to NPR. 

Remington promptly appealed this decision to the Supreme Court, asking for a dismissal. NPR reports that the court denied the motion, kicking the suit back to a lower court in Connecticut. 

The Sandy Hook families see the Supreme Court decision as a victory. The New York Times reports that lawyer Josh Koskoff said, “Now we get to proceed with the case, which is what we were hoping to do almost five years ago.”

The case will soon enter into the discovery phase, where the plaintiffs requested documents and communications from Remington regarding their marketing procedures. 

“I can’t say I’m excited by this ruling,” said one parent of a Sandy Hook Elementary victim. “I wish it was never here. But what we’ve said from the outset is all we want is our day in court, for the law to be upheld and for a jury to decide our case.”

According to the New York Times, more than two dozen cases around the country have been filed to challenge federal shield laws protecting gun makers and their advertising practices from lawsuits.