Families of Sandy Hook shooting get $73M settlement from gun company

[MU82]

The families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn., have reached a settlement in their lawsuit against the maker of the AR-15-style weapon used in the attack.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/nyregion/sandy-hook-families-settlement.html?campaign_id=60&emc=edit_na_20220215&instance_id=0&nl=breaking-news&ref=headline&regi_id=108420427&segment_id=82798&user_id=d36dcf821462fdd16ec3636710a855fa

Remington, which made the weapon, had proposed settling with the families for $33 million as a trial date loomed. Court documents filed on Tuesday morning did not specify the amount of the settlement, but a lawyer for the families said in a statement that the settlement was for $73 million.

Twenty schoolchildren and six adults were killed when a 20-year-old man stormed into the elementary school and set off a spray of gunfire.

The agreement represents a blow to the firearm industry because the lawsuit employed a novel strategy aimed at piercing the vast shield enshrined in federal law protecting gun companies from litigation.

Still, the settlement is unlikely to open the floodgates to more settlements and successful legal efforts, since the Sandy Hook families relied upon a narrow exception in the law.

But it does represent an unusual outcome because the case has managed to move forward even as those federal protections have thwarted other lawsuits brought by families of people killed in other mass shootings.

[Billy Hoyle]

good news for the Waukesha victims (remember them?) who stand to receive millions from the car company.

[withoutbias]

good news for the Waukesha victims (remember them?) who stand to receive millions from the car company.

Who?

[TSmith34, Inc.]

good news for the Waukesha victims (remember them?) who stand to receive millions from the car company.

Thank you for your insight Jr.

[Pakuni]

good news for the Waukesha victims (remember them?) who stand to receive millions from the car company.

[tower912]

good news for the Waukesha victims (remember them?) who stand to receive millions from the car company.

So much anger.   Clearly, someone really hurt you.   Big hug.

[Uncle Rico]

In before the lock

[Jockey]

good news for the Waukesha victims (remember them?) who stand to receive millions from the car company.

Do you have to try to be a knob - or does it just come naturally?

[MU82]

Guns, especially assault rifles, are made to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time as possible. That is their purpose. Nobody "needs" an AR-15 to protect himself/herself. Nobody hunts with one (unless the prey is humans). They were not created for trap-shooting, target-shooting or any other sporting purpose in mind.

This settlement is sofa-cushion money to Bushmaster, but maybe if more of these lawsuits succeed, it will provide a disincentive to make and market these mass-murder machines.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Do you have to try to be a knob - or does it just come naturally?

Passed on through the genes

[JWags85]

This thread went about as expected

[ZiggysFryBoy]

This thread went about as expected

Nads needs to keep his record going.

[lawdog77]

Nobody "needs" an AR-15 to protect himself/herself.

I could see needing one, on your own property, if you are invaded by this.





Not sure why the pictures are not loading. Its photos from the movie, Red Dawn.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Guns, especially assault rifles, are made to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time as possible. That is their purpose. Nobody "needs" an AR-15 to protect himself/herself. Nobody hunts with one (unless the prey is humans). They were not created for trap-shooting, target-shooting or any other sporting purpose in mind.

This settlement is sofa-cushion money to Bushmaster, but maybe if more of these lawsuits succeed, it will provide a disincentive to make and market these mass-murder machines.

AR means assault rifle.

[Galway Eagle]

Does this set any precedent? Like any other survivor group of a major shooting with the bushmaster AR 15 can also file suit and get a huge settlement? What about with other companies?

[Pakuni]

Does this set any precedent? Like any other survivor group of a major shooting with the bushmaster AR 15 can also file suit and get a huge settlement? What about with other companies?

This case had a fairly unique set of circumstances and clever theory of liability that very likely wouldn't apply to other cases.

[MU82]

This case had a fairly unique set of circumstances and clever theory of liability that very likely wouldn't apply to other cases.

Yes. Unless the circumstances were similar. Which they very well might be.

[lawdog77]

Does this set any precedent? Like any other survivor group of a major shooting with the bushmaster AR 15 can also file suit and get a huge settlement? What about with other companies?

Technically, no precedent, as it didn't actually go to court. Experts for the defense thinks they would have won if it had gone to trial. It depends on what that particular state's law allows.

[Hards Alumni]

AR means assault rifle.

I respect this trolling

[rocket surgeon]

AR means assault rifle.

AR stands for armalite, the company that designed the original design of what has been commonly called the AR.  you can get AR 5, 10 and 15's.  despite what 82 is all geeked up about, they weren't designed to kill anymore than scissors.  they are semi-automatic, not automatic, i.e. a machine gun.  so if one wants a gun "to kill as many as possible in the shortest amount of time" it is not the weapon of choice.  that comment right there tells you 82 knows absolutely nothing about guns and should be the last person to comment, pro or against guns because you will not get an honest answer. 

[ATL MU Warrior]

AR stands for armalite, the company that designed the original design of what has been commonly called the AR.  you can get AR 5, 10 and 15's.  despite what 82 is all geeked up about, they weren't designed to kill anymore than scissors.  they are semi-automatic, not automatic, i.e. a machine gun.  so if one wants a gun "to kill as many as possible in the shortest amount of time" it is not the weapon of choice.  that comment right there tells you 82 knows absolutely nothing about guns and should be the last person to comment, pro or against guns because you will not get an honest answer.

Lol. What exactly were they designed to do then?

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Purely for target practice you see

[rocket surgeon]

Lol. What exactly were they designed to do then?

i realize this is one of the things that is very hard for some of you to understand, but many people just like guns.  they collect them, they shoot them for sport, competition, etc.  there is an Olympic event with guns.  more people have guns for the right reasons and respect them than those who use them for wrong reasons.  yes, they can be used for self defense if needed.  they serve as a deterrent and believe it or not, they can save lives. 

the guns themselves are inanimate.  evil people with guns, bats, knives, etc do evil things with inanimate objects 

they were not designed to kill the most people in the shortest amount of time

[MU82]

i realize this is one of the things that is very hard for some of you to understand, but many people just like guns.  they collect them, they shoot them for sport, competition, etc.  there is an Olympic event with guns.  more people have guns for the right reasons and respect them than those who use them for wrong reasons.  yes, they can be used for self defense if needed.  they serve as a deterrent and believe it or not, they can save lives. 

the guns themselves are inanimate.  evil people with guns, bats, knives, etc do evil things with inanimate objects 

they were not designed to kill the most people in the shortest amount of time

Guns are for the express purpose of killing. As many people as possible, as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Although I'll grant you that sometimes it happens accidentally. Like in the dozens of cases of toddlers shooting family members.

What fun! Collect 'em all, kids!

[ATL MU Warrior]

i realize this is one of the things that is very hard for some of you to understand, but many people just like guns.  they collect them, they shoot them for sport, competition, etc.  there is an Olympic event with guns.  more people have guns for the right reasons and respect them than those who use them for wrong reasons.  yes, they can be used for self defense if needed.  they serve as a deterrent and believe it or not, they can save lives. 

the guns themselves are inanimate.  evil people with guns, bats, knives, etc do evil things with inanimate objects 

they were not designed to kill the most people in the shortest amount of time

So they are designed to do what exactly again? 

Let me help. They are designed to kill things. They are designed to to kill things as efficiently as possible with the user subjected to the least amount of danger possible.

And I am not anti-gun.  I have several shotguns and rifles that I inherited when my father passed away. So spare me the "you just don't understand"nonsense.

I also am intellectually honest enough to admit that the guns I own, and a weapon like an AR-15, are designed for very different purposes and are not the same.

Can you admit that?