The families and a survivor of the shooting in Newtown,Connecticut,sued Remington in 2015,saying the company should have never sold such a dangerous weapon to the public. They said their focus was on preventing future mass shootings.
“Today is a day of accountability for an industry that has thus far enjoyed operating with immunity and impunity,” Veronique De La Rosa,whose six-year-old son Noah was killed in the shooting,said at a news conference.
Messages seeking comment were left for Remington and its lawyers on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT).
The civil court case focused on how the firearm used by the shooter — a Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle — was marketed,alleging it targeted younger,at-risk males in marketing and product placement in violent video games. In one of Remington’s ads,it features the rifle against a plain backdrop and the phrase:“Consider Your Man Card Reissued”.
As part of the settlement,Remington also agreed to allow the families to release numerous documents they obtained during the lawsuit including some showing how it marketed the weapon,the families said.
Remington had argued there was no evidence to establish that its marketing had anything to do with the shooting.
The company also had said the lawsuit should have been dismissed because of a federal law that gives broad immunity to the gun industry. But the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Remington could be sued under state law over how it marketed the rifle. The gun maker appealed to the US Supreme Court,which declined to hear the case.