Surgeons Who Treated Sandy Hook Victims Back Reinstatement of Bushmaster Lawsuit

NEWTOWN, CT — Doctors who treated the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting know first hand the devastation faced that day, and those physicians and trauma surgeons are asking the state's Supreme Court to reinstate the case against Bushmaster Firearms International LLC.

Lawyers of doctors who treated victims of several mass shootings, including Dr. William Begg of Danbury Hospital, have filed an amicus brief in the Soto v. Bushmaster Firearms case. Earlier this month, an attorney for the families of nine victims of 12/14 filed a legal brief seeking to re-instate the lawsuit, and the doctors are asking the justices to overturn the lower-court decision which dismissed the lawsuit in October.

The suit aims to hold Bushmaster, maker of the Bushmaster AR-15, accountable for the events of 12/14. The gunman at used the Bushmaster AR-15 to take the lives of 20 children and six educators. Remington Outdoor Co. is a parent company of Bushmaster Firearms

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"Many have been responsible for the treatment of patients shot or affected by the AR-15 or similar military assault weapons, including at Aurora, Columbine, Newtown and San Bernardino," wrote the lawyers in the brief."The emergencies and trauma never end for them."

In the brief, the doctors argue that the AR-15 and "similar military assault weapons create a unique class of unacceptable emergencies and trauma." The doctors argue that the common law of negligent entrustment should permit the public to seek recourse against gun manufactures.

"The extraordinary power of these military assault rifles not only makes them unnecessary for hunting and self-defense, but also poses a severe public health risk to innocent civilians," writes the doctors."The Connecticut common law of negligent entrustment should hold the makers and sellers of the AR-15 accountable for this risk."

A call to Remington Outdoor Co. was not immediately returned. Check back with Patch for updates.

Attorney Josh Koskoff makes his final arguments at Superior Court in Bridgeport in a lawsuit against Remington Arms Co. Koskoff wrote the firs legal brief seeking to have the state's Supreme Court reinstate the lawsuit . (Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media via the Associated Press, Pool)