Remington gun manufacturer just won its push to move a wrongful death suit brought by 10 families of Sandy Hook shooting victims to federal court — and at least one legal insider says that’s a significant boon for the company.
The case started in Bridgeport Superior Court in December, when nine families said the Bushmaster AR-15 used by Adam Lanza during his school shooting spree claimed that the weapon belonged in the military arena, not the civilian sector, and that Remington was at fault for its general population sale, The Associated Press reported. A 10th family joined the suit a short time later.
Remington argued that since their business is located in North Carolina, not Connecticut, the proper jurisdiction for the case is federal court. The case was then moved to the 2nd U.S. Circuit, before U.S. District Judge Robert Chatigny — a move that one legal mind says bears well for the company.
“The 2nd Circuit has previously refused to hold gun manufacturers liable or permit lawsuits against gun manufacturers for injuries caused by third parties,” said Timothy Lytton, a professor at the Albany Law School, AP reported. “It has a history of knocking these types of cases down.”
A spokeswoman affiliated with the case says the transference from state to federal court is not yet a done deal. Karen Hinton, president of Hinton Communications, said such requests are always automatically granted, but then must go through a court hearing for a final approval.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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