Firearms Industry: Supreme Court’s Pass on Sandy Hook Gun Case Presages Litigation Onslaught
Reuters is reporting that the firearms industry is on the verge on a potentially crushing wave of litigation from the victims of gun violence — in the opinion of the firearms industry, gun owners, the National Rifle Association and states that strongly back gun rights.
Those parties warned the U.S. Supreme Court of that scenario if the justices did not grant Remington Arms’ petition for review of a 2019 ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court in a landmark gun liability case. The court denied Remington’s petition for review in the case which involves the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The Connecticut court found in the Remington case that the state’s unfair trade practices statute fits into the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act exception for laws “applicable to the sale or marketing” of firearms. That finding raises the specter of nationwide liability because many states have consumer protection statutes similar to Connecticut’s law, Remington warned.