BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WTNH)– A judge will decide whether to drop a case involving a gun maker and the families impacted by the Sandy Hook tragedy.
The gun company says it is protected by federal law. But some of the families who brought the wrongful death suit says there’s also an exception on their side.
There are two schools of thought here. The families who filed say the gun used in this case should not be sold to the public and they say there’s an exception to the federal law that the gun maker says protects them here.
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Back in December of 2012, investigators found Adam Lanza used a AR-15 rifle to shoot and kill 20 first graders and six educators at The Sandy Hook Elementary school. Some of the families have since filed a lawsuit against the gun maker. So, Monday, the Freedom Group, a parent company of AR-15 maker Bushmaster Firearms is expected to ask the judge to drop the case.
They say they’re protected by a 2005 federal law which shields the gun manufacturers from lawsuits when someone uses one of their guns in a crime. But the some of the families who lost children and a teacher who survived argue this lawsuit is allowed under an exception to that law, which allows suits against companies that should know their products are likely to be used to injure others.
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The victims’ attorneys say the lawsuit is the first to claim this exception and argue this gun is too dangerous to sell to the public. Here’s what one father told CNN.
“He spent that entire time hiding in a box of T-shirts in the supply closet. And he heard every round. And one of his first questions to me was, ‘how many people were there dad? How many were there?’ And I said ‘there was one guy,” said David Wheeler.
The families are seeking monetary compensation and other court actions against the company. So, Bridgeport Superior court judge will hear these arguments Monday afternoon.
