Gunman Adam Lanza opened fire at the Newtown, Conn., school with a Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle on Dec. 14, 2012, eliminating 20 first-graders and 6 teachers. The 20-year-old shooter previously shot his mom to death at their Newtown house, and eliminated himself as cops reached the school. The rifle was lawfully owned by his mom.
A survivor and loved ones of 9 victims submitted a wrongful death suit versus Remington in 2015, stating the business needs to have never ever offered such a harmful weapon to the general public and declaring it targeted more youthful, at-risk males in marketing and item positioning in violent computer game.
Tuesday’s order from the Supreme Court does not suggest Remington or other weapon producers will deal with any instant liability, however it does set the phase for prospective court fights over whether the weapon market is accountable for the Sandy Hook massacre and possibly open the door to other matches in relation to other mass shootings or murders.
“The choice will have serious and instant effects, exposing the guns market to pricey and challenging lawsuits,” Remington argued in its petition to the Supreme Court. “Thus, as a leading scholar on firearm-manufacturer liability has actually described, the choice below will ‘release a flood of claims throughout the nation,'” it continued, pointing out Timothy D. Lytton , a teacher at the Georgia State University College of Law.
