The U.S. Supreme Court is allowing survivors and relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to pursue their lawsuit against Remington Arms Co., the manufacturer of the rifle used to kill 26 people.
According to a news report, the Supreme Court "rejected an appeal from Remington Arms, which argued it should be shielded by a 2005 federal law preventing most lawsuits against firearms manufacturers when their products are used in crimes." According to the news report, the lawsuit states Remington should never have sold a weapon as dangerous as the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle to the general public. The lawsuit also alleges that Remington "targeted younger, at-risk males in marketing and product placement in violent video games," notes the report.
According to a New York Times article, the National Rifle Association, the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, Second Amendment law professors, nine states and 22 members of the House are among the signatories of a half-dozen legal briefs supporting Remington. In addition, the N.R.A. argued that the families’ challenge to the 2005 law could open the door to other lawsuits, potentially putting the firearm industry “out of business by unlimited and uncertain liability for criminal misuse of their products," says the news report.