A federal judge in Bridgeport will decide whether wrongful death litigation filed against the manufacturers and seller of the assault rifle used by Adam Lanza to kill 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown will stay in federal court.
Originally filed in Connecticut Superior Court in Bridgeport on behalf of the estates of nine of the victims and one survivor of the Newtown shooting, 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, and Riverview Sales in East Windsor, and the holder of its federal firearms license, David LaGuercia of Massachusetts.
Lawyers for Remington filed to move the case to federal court in Connecticut on Jan. 14, and the attorneys for the victims”™ families have filed a motion to have the case sent back to state court.
In their filing, Remington”™s attorneys argue Riverview Sales, which allegedly sold a Bushmaster XM-15E2S rifle to Nancy Lanza, Adam Lanza”™s mother, cannot be sued for wrongful death under the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which immunizes lawful gun sellers against tort claims. If Riverview Sales is dismissed from the case or found to be immune, the case could be heard in federal court, as none of the plaintiffs, who are all from Connecticut, are residents of the same state as any defendant.
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2005, carves out narrow exceptions to a lawful gun seller”™s immunity, including so-called negligent entrustment, when a retailer sells a firearm to a buyer who the seller knew or should have known would use the product, and later does use the product “in a manner involving unreasonable risk of physical injury to the person or others.”
“A negligent entrustment action must involve a sale of a firearm by a seller to the same person who thereafter ”˜use(s)”™ the firearm to cause harm to himself or herself, or others,” Remington”™s lawyers argue in their filing. “Here, the plaintiffs allege that Riverview Sales Inc. sold the firearm to Nancy Lanza. ”¦ They allege that three years later Adam Lanza ”˜used”™ the firearm to cause physical injuries to others.”
The families of the victims, however, want the case to be heard in Connecticut Superior Court, where it was originally filed, in part arguing that a decision by the federal court on whether Riverview Sales is immune from being sued by the plaintiffs would be premature.
In a memo filed by attorneys in support of a motion to remand the case to state court, the plaintiffs laid out arguments that a decision on Remington”™s contention that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act provides immunity to Riverview Sales and potentially to the other defendants is an attack on the plaintiffs”™ entire case that should be made in state court, because “the Bushmaster defendants concede ”¦ that Riverview sold the XM15-E2S that was used in the Sandy Hook shooting to Nancy Lanza ”¦ (the defendants) do not point to any particular deficiency in plaintiff”™s state law claims” and that because there are no deficiencies, the case should be remanded to state court.
“The defendants are essentially asking a federal court to decide the merits of the families”™ entire case in order to dismiss Riverview and assert jurisdiction over the case,” said Josh Koskoff, an attorney who represents the plaintiffs, in a press release announcing the plaintiffs would seek to have the case remanded.
The plaintiffs in the case are the administrators of the estates of victims Victoria Soto, Dylan Hockley, Benjamin Wheeler, Rachel D”™Avino, Daniel Barden, Mary Sherlach, Jesse Lewis, Noah Pozner and Lauren Rousseau. Natalie Hammond, who was wounded in the leg during the Newtown shooting, is also a plaintiff.
The case is pending before Judge Robert N. Chatigny in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
