Sandy Hook Case Reopens

The families of the Sandy Hook victims are carrying out the process of suing Remington Company. The Supreme Court has reopened the Remington Co. v. Soto case. They are not stopping the lawsuit coming from the families of Sandy Hook victims to Remington, the manufacturer of the semi-automatic weapon used in the shooting.

On Dec. 14, 2012 in Newton, Connecticut, Adam Lanza shot and killed twenty students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School, before killing himself. The students ranged in ages from 6-7. Lanza used a Bushmaster XM15-E2S during the attack, an extremely destructive weapon. This mass shooting was a tragic event in history that has forever changed American school systems. There had been mass school shootings in America previous to Sandy Hook, but the death of young innocent children gave everyone the reality check they didn’t know they needed.

The relevance of the reopening of the case is because the manufacturer originally tried to reject the lawsuit. However, the Supreme Court is not allowing the appeal to go through.

“The Sandy Hook victims' families are "grateful" for the Supreme Court's decision”(CNN News 1).

They originally started the lawsuit process in December 2014. The main reason the families are suing the manufacturer is because of how easy it was to obtain and because of their advertisement of the destructive weapon. “They accused Remington of violating Connecticut's unfair trade practices law when it knowingly marketed and promoted the Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle for use in assaults against human beings"(National Public Radio 1).

Remington Company claims that the suspect convicted is at fault, not them. Remington, “argued that it should be shielded from such a suit under a 2005 federal law...”(NBC News 1). The federal law, Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, protects gun manufacturers from being held accountable for crimes committed using their products. The high court ruled against most of the allegations made against Remington Co. due to the PLCAA. The lawsuit that will proceed is based on the advertisements promoting the Bushmaster rifle.

Connecticut police officers showing the AR-15 rifle that was used in the mass shooting

The survivors and families of the victims are trying to gain justice for the children they lost. Provoking a lawsuit is the first step to getting closure that students will be safer in schools and that parents don’t have to go through what the Sandy Hook families experienced. This lawsuit will hopefully promote change in the companies that promote and sell guns.