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Connecticut Supreme Court Rules Sandy Hook Families Can Sue Gun Manufacturer

A Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that gun maker Remington can be sued over how it marketed the Bushmaster rifle used to kill children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

Justices issued a 4-3 decision that reinstated a wrongful-death lawsuit and overturned a lower-court ruling that the lawsuit was prohibited by a 2005 federal law that shields gun manufacturers from liability in most cases when their products are used in crimes.

The original lawsuit was filed 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, and Riverview Gun Sales Inc., the gun shop where the shooter's mother purchased the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle, and the store's owner.

The decision will allow the families to pursue one of their claims in the case: that Remington, the rifle manufacturer, knowingly marketed the gun to "carry out offensive, military style combat missions against their perceived enemies."

In their original complaint, the families outlined some of the marketing practices allegedly used by Bushmaster. "The Bushmaster Defendant's 2012 Bushmaster Product Catalog shows soldiers moving on patrol through the jungles, armed with Bushmaster rifles," the lawsuit reads. "Superimposed over the silhouette of a soldier holding his helmet against the backdrop of an American flag is text that reads 'when you need to perform under pressure, Bushmaster delivers.'"

Remington has denied wrongdoing, saying that it could not have known what the gun would be used for.