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U.S. NEWS Monday 18 noveMber 2019

Sandy Hook lawsuit could force Remington to open books

By LISA MARIE PANE advocates have outspent
Associated Press perhaps his most loyal sup-
A recent ruling by the U.S. porter: the NRA. With slump-
Supreme Court has upend- ing sales, some companies,
ed a longstanding legal including Remington, have
roadblock that has given faced bankruptcy. And
the gun industry far-reach- in the wake of high-profile
ing immunity from lawsuits mass shootings, corporate
in the aftermath of mass America has begun push-
killings. The court this week ing back against the in-
allowed families of victims dustry. AR-platform long
of the 2012 Sandy Hook guns have been a particu-
school massacre to sue the lar bone of contention for
maker of the AR-15 used gun-control advocates
in the attack. The case who believe the firearms
against Remington will now — once banned for a de-
proceed in the Connecti- cade in the U.S. — are es-
cut courts. pecially attractive to mass
Remington is widely ex- shooters for their ease of
pected to win the case, but use and their ability to carry
critics of the gun industry large capacity magazines.
are eyeing what they see While handguns remain
as a significant outcome used more often in mass
even in the face of defeat: shootings, ARs have been
getting the gunmaker to involved in some of the
open its books about how In this March 1, 2018 file photo, the Remington name is seen etched on a model 870 shotgun at deadliest shootings, includ-
it markets firearms. Duke's Sport Shop in New Castle, Pa. ing when a gunman fired
Lawyers for the plaintiffs Associated Press on a crowd of concertgo-
are certain to request that and cash the checks,” said which represents gunmak- the Gun Industry: A Battle ers outside his hotel room in
Remington turn over vol- Joshua Koskoff, the Con- ers, said he anticipates at the Crossroads of Gun Las Vegas in 2017, killing 58
umes of documents as part necticut attorney who rep- Remington will ultimately Control and Mass Torts." people and wounding hun-
of the discovery phase, pro- resents a survivor and rela- prevail and that it’s unfair Add into the mix that Lan- dreds.
viding a rare window into tives of nine victims who to blame the gunmaker for za himself didn’t own the The AR-15, its design based
the inner-workings of how died at the Newtown, Con- Adam Lanza’s crime. firearm; he stole it from on the military M-16, has
a major gun manufacturer necticut, school on Dec. “Adam Lanza alone is the his mother after killing her become one of the most
markets its weapons. Those 14, 2012. responsible person. Not in the home they shared, popular firearms in the U.S.
materials might include The case hinges on Con- Remington,” he said. then went to the elemen- in recent decades. Light-
company emails, memos, necticut state consumer Suing the firearms industry tary school in Newtown, weight, easy to customize
business plans and cor- law that challenges how has never been easy, and where he killed 20 children and able to carry extend-
porate strategies, or any- the firearm used by the it was made even harder and six adults. ed magazines, sales took
thing that might suggest Newtown shooter — a after Congress enacted “It makes it harder for ju- off once the ban expired in
the company purposely Bushmaster XM15-E2S ri- the Protection of Lawful ries to connect the dots. 2004. There are now an es-
marketed the firearm that fle — was marketed, with Commerce in Arms Act in It’s a significant hurdle in timated 16 million AR-plat-
may have compelled the plaintiffs alleging Reming- 2005. The law backed by all of these cases. It’s very form long guns in the U.S.
shooter to use the weapon ton purposely used adver- the National Rifle Associa- rare that you have a very Robert J. Spitzer, chairman
to carry out the slaughter. tisements that targeted tion gave broad immunity close timeframe between of political science at the
The plaintiffs also believe younger, at-risk males. In to the gun industry. the marketing of a weap- State University of New York
the ruling will put gun com- one of Remington’s ads, The chances of the plain- on and a mass shooting,” at Cortland and a longtime
panies on notice about it features the rifle against tiffs ultimately succeeding Lytton said. watcher of gun politics,
how they conduct business a plain backdrop and the in this case are slim — a sen- Lanza’s mother purchased said a case against Rem-
knowing they could wind phrase: “Consider Your timent shared by the Con- the Bushmaster AR-plat- ington could cause “pretty
up in the courts in similar Man Card Reissued.” necticut Supreme Court, form rifle in 2010 from a embarrassing information”
fashion. Remington did not respond which said they face a Connecticut gun shop. It’s to come out.
“If the industry wakes up to requests for comment af- “Herculean task” to prevail. unclear if she or her son “And it is certainly possible
and understands their con- ter the U.S. Supreme Court Judges and juries generally were influenced by or had they will find memos or oth-
duct behind closed doors is denied its efforts to quash have a tough time blaming seen Remington’s advertis- er documents that may sig-
not protected, then the in- the lawsuit. anyone but the shooter for ing. Still, it’s been a tough nificantly support their case
dustry itself ... will take steps Larry Keane, senior vice the crime, said Timothy D. few years for the industry. that Remington was mani-
to try to help the massive president and legal coun- Lytton, professor at Georgia Sales plummeted with the festly irresponsible in the
problem we have instead sel for the National Shoot- State University's College of election of President Don- way they marketed their
of do nothing and sit by ing Sports Foundation, Law and author of "Suing ald Trump, and gun-control guns,” Spitzer said.q