Two Years After Sandy Hook Tragedy: Families of Victims Sue Gun Manufacturer
On Monday, the lawsuit was filed in a Connecticut state court. It targets Bushmaster, the maker of the Ar-15 model rifle Lanza used in his attack, a firearm distributor named Camfour, and a local store named Riverview Gun Sales, which is currently closed. The allegations include wrongful death and negligence, reported by The ABC News.
The timing of the lawsuit was notable because it was filed only a day after the second anniversary of the tragedy that shook the whole nation.
On December 14, 2012 20-year old Adam Lanza killed his mother at their Newtown home before heading to Sandy Hook Elementary school where he started shooting with the Bushmaster AR-15 that his mother bought at Riverview Gun and Sales. He killed 20 children and six educators during the spree. He shot himself in the head before the police arrived at the scene.
The complaint claims that the gun enables shooters to inflict "unparalleled civilian carnage" and should not have been sold to civilians due to its heavy firepower. "In order to continue profiting from the sale of AR-15s, defendants chose to disregard the unreasonable risks the rifle posed outside of specialized, highly regulated institutions like the armed forces and law enforcement," according to ABC.
The gun ownership issue has been an ongoing debate for several years now. Since the tragedy, advocates of gun-control have been frequently referring to Sandy Hook as an example of how military grade weapons can cause damage if they are available to the public, especially to people who have mental problems.
The husband of one of the victims, Bill Scherlach, told ABC: "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." He added that even though he believes in people's right to bear arms- the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants the right to own guns- the gun industry should be responsible to meet "standard business practices" when they are assessing the risk of producing, making, and selling a product.
