Ian Patrick, FISM News
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Firearm maker Remington recently agreed to a $73 million settlement in a lawsuit brought against them by the victims’ families of the deadly Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. Remington also agreed to allow families to release documents showing how the company marketed its AR-15 rifle just days before the deadly incident.
Remington had initially offered a settlement of $33 million in July of last year, but the offer was rejected.
On December 14, 2012, a gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and opened fire, tragically killing twenty students and six adults. The gunman killed his own mother at their home before making his way to the school.
The nine families affected by the tragedy sued the gunmaker for wrongful deaths in 2014. The protection of firearms manufacturers from the illegal and irresponsible use of their products under the federal “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act” made this lawsuit appear daunting. Remington tried to have the case dismissed under this law.
However, the families claimed that it was Remington’s marketing of their AR-15-style rifle that was to blame. Throughout the case Remington argued that there wasn’t any evidence linking their marketing with the tragic incident.
Joshua Koskoff, the attorney for the families, said that Remington campaigned for their AR-15 “through product placement in first-person shooter video games and by touting the AR-15 as an effective killing machine,” according to reporting by Reuters. He said at a press conference that this case was really about “forcing change,” and not about compensation.
Because of the high-profile nature of this case, it was monitored heavily by Second Amendment defenders and critics alike. The Associated Press reports that the settlement in this case could “provide a roadmap for victims of other shootings to sue firearm makers.”
Timothy D. Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University, is quoted by the AP as saying that gun manufacturers might receive pressure from insurers “to avoid the kind of either design choices or marketing practices that gave rise to this litigation.”
President Biden issued a response through the White House website, blaming gun manufacturers “for manufacturing weapons of war and irresponsibly marketing these firearms.” Biden also called on Congress to repeal the federal law protecting gun makers from consumer irresponsibility.
As I have repeatedly called for, Congress must repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act so we can fully hold gun manufacturers and dealers accountable. But, in the meantime, I will continue to urge state and local lawmakers, lawyers, and survivors of gun violence to pursue efforts to replicate the success of the Sandy Hook families. Together, we can deliver a clear message to gun manufacturers and dealers: they must either change their business models to be part of the solution for the gun violence epidemic, or they will bear the financial cost of their complicity.
Remington has filed for bankruptcy twice since the lawsuit was brought against them. The company has not issued a statement since the settlement.