Newtown Families Sue Gun Manufacturer Over Sandy Hook School Shooting

A law firm representing nine Sandy Hook Elementary School families and a teacher who was injured during the attack said it has filed a suit against the manufacturer of the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle.

The lawsuit — filed by Koskoff, Koskoff and Bieder — alleges that the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle used in the attack that led to 20 students and six educators being killed shouldn’t have been released to the public and belongs only in the military and with law enforcement.

“The AR-15 was specifically engineered for the United States Military to meet the needs of changing warfare,” said Josh Koskoff in a statement. “In fact, one of the Army’s specifications for the AR-15 was that it has the capability to penetrate a steel helmet. This weapon was not designed for home defense or hunting. This weapon was designed to efficiently kill other human beings in combat.”

The complaint was filed in Superior Court, Bridgeport on Monday. It alleges negligence and wrongful death under the negligent entrustment theory.

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The lawsuit also names firearm distributor Camfour Inc. of Massachusetts and Riverview Gun Sales of East Windsor. The Bushmaster AR-15 rifle was purchased in 2010 at the East Windsor store.

The rifle used by Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook School shooter, was compliant under state and federal law at the time of the attack. The state legislature classified the rifle along with a number of other weapons as assault weapons and banned the sale and possession within the state, save for some grandfathering rules.

The suit will have significant hurdles to overcome from the onset, said Stephen Gilles, professor of law at the Quinnipiac University Law School.

“This lawsuit runs head-on into federal law,” he said. “The question is whether or not the plaintiffs will be able to convince the court that the suit shouldn’t just be dismissed from the onset.”

The federal law Gilles refers to is a specific federal law commonly known as the “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,” which prohibits “...civil liability actions from being brought or continued against manufacturers, distributors, dealers or importers of firearms or ammunition for damages, injunctive or other relief resulting from the misuse of their products by others.”

The law was passed in 2005.

The negligent entrustment theory holds that a person or company could be liable for damages if they knew or should have known that providing someone with an instrument could have led to damage, Gilles said.

An example would be if a person gave his or her automobile keys to a friend who he or she knew to be intoxicated or who had a history of multiple DUI offenses, Gilles said.

“Even without the federal law it’s an ambitious theory,” he said of the suit, adding that the firm that brought on the suit has a very good reputation throughout the state.

Bushmaster had settled a suit in 2004 brought on by family members of victims of the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. The parties agreed to a $2.5 million settlement, but Bushmaster officials said that the company didn’t commit any wrongdoing, according to the Washington Post.

News of the suit being filed comes one day after the two-year anniversary of the shooting. By state law, the suit had to be in the hands of a state marshal no later than Sunday.

Bill Sherlach, the husband of Mary Sheralch who was killed in the attack, said that gun manufacturers are able to market and sell their product to people who aren’t trained to use it.

“In business, measuring risk prior to producing, marketing, and selling a product or service is standard procedure. For far too long the gun industry has been given legislative safe harbor from this standard business practice,” he said in a statement. “These companies assume no responsibility for marketing and selling a product to the general population who are not trained to use it nor even understand the power of it.

Sherlach added that he believes in the second amendment, but also believes the gun industry should bear risk.

Many families of victims set up estates in the past couple of weeks. Setting up an estate is one of the first steps to filing a wrongful injury claim for a deceased person.

Families of victims Victoria Soto, Dylan Hockley, Benjamin Wheeler, Rachel D’Avino, Daniel Barden, Mary Sherlach, Jesse Lewis, Noah Pozner and Lauren Rousseau are listed on the suit. Natalie Hammond was injured in the attack and also signed-on to the suit.

Image via CT State Police report of weapon recovered at Sandy Hook Elementary School.