The Connecticut Supreme Court gave the green light to the liability lawsuit, which seeks damages against Remington Arms Co. and Bushmaster Firearms International, which made the rifle that killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Thursday’s ruling by the Supreme Court will permit the victims’ relatives to go to trial, which could force the gun companies to submit internal communications that they have been fighting to keep private. Remington and Bushmaster have called the lawsuit “an attempt to demonize the rifle.”
In their ruling, the justices stated that the gunmakers could be sued for marketing of the rifle, which they claim is directed at young men who play violent video games. In their opinion, the justices found that the weapon was “engineered to deliver maximum carnage with extreme efficiency.”
“The families are grateful that our state’s Supreme Court has rejected the gun industry’s bid for complete immunity, not only from the consequences of their reckless conduct but also from the truth-seeking discovery process,” Joshua Koskoff, an attorney representing the families said in a statement. “The families’ goal has always been to shed light on Remington’s calculated and profit-driven strategy to expand the AR-15 market and court high-risk users, all at the expense of Americans’ safety. Today’s decision is a critical step toward achieving that goal.”
The latest favorable ruling for the families comes weeks after conspiracy theorist - and Infowars owner - Alex Jones and three other defendants were ordered be deposed, who are “critical to Infowars’ business operations.” They had been fighting to keep their business records sealed.
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