Lawsuit by Sandy Hook families against gun manufacturer will go to trial in 2021
WATERBURY, Conn. _ A lawsuit by nine families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings against the company that made the gun used in the massacre will go to trial in September 2021.
On Wednesday lawyers for Remington Arms and the families agreed to the date after nearly two hours of haggling before Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis. Remington pushed for a court date in 2022 but Attorney Josh Koskoff, who is representing the families, wanted September 2021.
Bellis said the case has been on the docket too long _ the lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 _ to wait until 2022.
None of the nine family members of victims attended the scheduling conference in Waterbury Superior Court. The case was originally filed in Bridgeport but has moved to Waterbury so Bellis could keep it.
Bellis had originally dismissed the lawsuit in November of 2016, siding with lawyers for Remington Arms that the lawsuit "falls squarely within the broad immunity" provided to gun manufacturers and dealers" by the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, known as PLCAA, which has protected the manufacturers of the AR-15 assault rifle from lawsuits.
But last year the state Supreme Court overturned that dismissal ruling by a 4-3 vote that the Sandy Hook families should have the opportunity to prove that Remington violated the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act by marketing what it knew was a weapon designed for military use to civilians such as Nancy and Adam Lanza.
Adam Lanza used a Bushmaster AR-15 to kill 26 people, including 20 first graders inside the Sandy Hook School on Dec. 14, 2012. He fired 156 rounds in less than five minutes before using a handgun to then kill himself.
_The Hartford Courant
