Remington pushes Newtown lawsuit to federal court

The lawsuit filed last month by families of victims killed during the Sandy Hook shooting has been removed to a Connecticut federal court.

Remington Arms Company, LLC, the parent company of Bushmaster Firearms, filed to remove the suit from state court since it’s headquartered in North Carolina and cited the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act as a defense against its alleged involvement in the shooting.

The law was created to shield gun companies from litigation if a person was hurt with their product. Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed the measure with a majority vote in July 2005 and four months later President George W. Bush signed it into law.

In the response filed Jan. 14, Remington says the operative language of the Act is “a qualified civil liability action may not be brought in any Federal or State court” and “shall be immediately dismissed.”

The Newtown families filed the lawsuit on Dec. 13, a day before the two-year anniversary of the shooting in which a mentally unstable man gunned down 20 first-graders and six educators at the start of the school day.

The families blamed Bushmaster for creating an aura around its model XM15-E2S that allegedly empowered the shooter, giving him the ability to perform like a solider in the theater of war. Prior to the shooting, Bushmaster likened its rifles to military weapons in its advertising.

The Newtown families have until March 15 to amend its complaint.

Latest Reviews

revolver barrel loading graphic

Loading