Gun industry tries to have Sandy Hook lawsuit thrown out
A judge today will begin weighing whether a gunmaker should face trial over the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
A lawsuit blames the manufacturer, distributor and seller of the rifle used in the massacre, where 26 students and educators died.
Since the lawsuit was filed last October, gunmakers have fought to get it thrown out of court. They'll have one more chance at today's hearing at Bridgeport Superior Court in Connecticut, when both sides will present their cases.
Mark and Jackie Barden's son, Daniel, was just a seven-year-old first-grader when he was murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary.
"This is what we need to do to make sure this stops," Jackie Barden told correspondent Michelle Miller. "Daniel deserved to live a full life."
- Complete CBSNews.com coverage: Sandy Hook Elementary School rampage
- Judge rules Sandy Hook families' lawsuit can go forward (04/14/16)
Now, the Barden family and nine other Newtown plaintiffs are fighting to sue Remington Arms, the maker of the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle used in the attack, along with the gun's distributor and seller.
"Assault weapons with high-capacity magazines have no practical application in the hands of untrained civilians," Mark Barden said.
The lawsuit claims Remington knowingly exploited the rifle's militaristic and destructive nature in ads geared towards civilians.
Miller suggested that the gunmaker's argument might be, "This is the best way for us to market our product."
"But it's irresponsible when people are dying," Mark Barden replied. "And it's targeted at these disenfranchised, violence-prone young men."
- "America's rifle": The marketing of assault-style weapons (CBS Moneywatch, 06/15/16)
- Family of AR-15 creator says it's not for civilians (06/16/16)
- CBS News producer shows how easy it is to buy an assault rifle ("CBS This Morning," 06/16/16)
- Why it was so easy for the Orlando killer to get his guns ("CBS Evening News," 06/15/16)
But Remington insists a 2005 federal law protects the firearms industry against most claims when guns are misused.
In a recent motion to dismiss the lawsuit, lawyers for the company said the law makes it "...immune from the claim that it acted unlawfully..."
"They do not want to see the doors open to litigation when there are mass killings, or any killings, with their product," said Georgetown University law professor Heidi Li Feldman.
- Rifle manufacturer fights Newtown civil suit ("CBS This Morning," 06/18/16)
The AR-15 is one of the most popular weapons in the U.S., with several different manufacturers' versions on the market. But the rifle has also turned up in the hands of other mass shooters, in Aurora and San Bernadino.
Last week the Bardens were learn that a similar assault rifle -- a Sig Sauer MCX rifle -- had been used in another rampage, this time at a nightclub in Orlando.
Jackie Barden said it wasn't a case of victims being in the wrong place at the wrong time: "It's, you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, and losing your life."
Remington and the other defendants named in the lawsuit did not return our requests for comment.
It could be months until the judge reaches a decision on the case.