Sandy Hook Families Reach $73 Million Settlement With Gun Manufacturer
By Jason Hall
February 15, 2022
Nine families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims have reached a $73 million settlement with Remington, the gun manufacturer of the weapon used in the incident, according to a court document obtained by CNN on Tuesday (February 15).
The lawsuit initially filed in 2014 attempted to hold Remington responsible as the manufacturer of the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle that killed 20 children and six adults in Newton, Connecticut on December 14, 2012.
A 2005 federal law protects gun manufacturers in wrongful death lawsuits filed by victims' family members, however, attorneys for the nine Sandy Hook families tried to target Remington's marketing strategy as being responsible in the shooting.
The families' lawyers argued that Remington marketed the rifles as being comparable to military artillery, which is a violation of a Connecticut law regarding deceptive marketing practices.
The lawsuit was allowed to move forward in 2019 after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Remington's request for an appeal of the case.
Remington filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2020 for the second time in a span of just over two years, CNN reports.
Remington had previously offered a nearly $33 million settlement to the families of the victims connected to the lawsuit last summer, CNBC reports.