Lawyers from the Bridgeport-based law firm Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, representing Sandy Hook families filing suit against the manufacturer and seller of the assault rifle used in the 2012 school shooting, announced an early victory as a District Court judge recently determined the state is the proper venue for its suit against Bushmaster, not the federal courts.
“All my clients seek is an opportunity to present their case to a Connecticut jury,” the plaintiffs”™ attorney, Josh Koskoff, said. “This ruling brings them one step closer to that goal. It is a major setback for the gun industry in their attempt to avoid responsibility for tragedies like Newtown.”
The original suit was filed in the Bridgeport Superior Court in 2014 on behalf of the estates of nine of the victims and one survivor of the Dec. 14, 2012, mass shooting in which 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother in their Newton home, then shot and killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School before taking his own life.
The suit seeks damages for wrongful death and loss of consortium from Remington Outdoor Company Inc. and Remington Arms Company LLC, the parent companies of the manufacturer of Bushmaster rifles, the holder of its federal firearms license, David LaGuercia of Massachusetts, and Riverview Sales in East Windsor, the seller of the Bushmaster assault rifle that was used in the shooting.
According to Koskoff, Bushmaster argued a federal law granting broad immunity to the gun industry provided a basis to dismiss the plaintiffs”™ case against Riverview Sales. Bushmaster urged the court to find the plaintiffs”™ claims against Riverview were meritless and Riverview was “fraudulently” named as a defendant in the case.
Representatives for the plaintiffs called the recent court decision to keep the case in state courts an “unequivocal rejection” of the defendants”™ argument.
“The AR-15 assault rifle was designed as a military weapon,” Katie Mesner-Hage, also of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, said. “The defendants chose to make that weapon available to Connecticut citizens and to market it in explicitly militaristic terms ”“ even in the wake of Columbine, Aurora and countless other tragedies. A Connecticut jury should have the opportunity to evaluate that choice and decide whether defendants bear some responsibility for what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School.”
