Newtown Families Suing Bushmaster Over AR-15 Used In Sandy Hook School Shooting

Newtown families are suing Bushmaster in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting second anniversary. Bushmaster is the gunmaker that manufactured the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle used by Adam Lanza in the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting.

Adam Lanza took the lives of 20 children and six adults during the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting. None of the Newtown families involved in the Bushmaster lawsuit are commenting on the legal action, but Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal is weighing in on the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle issue.

“Two years [have] passed and Congress has been complicit in the gun violence in this country by failing to act. And I share the frustration that may in part may underlie the reason for this legal redress,” Senator Blumenthal said.

Second Amendment advocates have been quick to point out that the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle is a legal weapon sold Bushmaster in full compliance with all firearms manufacturing statutes. If the Newtown families lawsuit against the gun company is successful, it could set a precedent for other victims of gun violence to sue the makers of the handguns used in those crimes as well.

“If you can prove that a manufacturer knew in some way that the gun would end up the hands of a proscribed purchaser, someone who shouldn’t have the gun, you might be able to show liability. But it is going to be very difficult,” New York attorney Robert Fellows said.

Remington, Bushmaster’s sister company, is also the target of a class-action lawsuit. The plaintiffs in the gun lawsuit claims that the Model 700 rifle can “fire inadvertently” without the trigger even being squeezed. The Newtown families Bushmaster lawsuit is not claiming any type of rifle error.

The Sandy Hook families have secured some high-powered attorneys to aid them in the Bushmaster lawsuit. Representation in the legal case includes Karen Hinton, a former aide to President Bill Clinton, and Michael Koskoff, who represented the Jackson family against the promoter of the singer’s last tour.

There are currently no plans in Newtown to mark the second anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting. The AR-15 is one of the most popular semi-automatic rifles on the market. The semi-automatic rifle has been heralded for its accuracy and lightweight nature, and has been praised by women for its ease of use.

Should gun companies be held responsible for crimes committed with their firearms? What do you think about the Newtown families Bushmaster lawsuit?

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