Florida School Shooting Victims Sue Maker, Seller Of Gun Used In Massacre
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PARKLAND (CBSMiami) -- The families of two teens murdered in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre are suing the manufacturer and seller of the AR-15 used by Nikolas Cruz, saying they are partly responsible for the deadly Valentine's Day attack.
The parents of Jaime Guttenberg and Alex Schachter have filed lawsuits against gunmaker American Outdoor Brands formerly known as Smith & Wesson, and gun seller Sunrise Tactical Supply, which is where Cruz purchased the weapon.
"They knew, they had to know that putting all of those weapons on the street, that innocent kids, innocent people like my kid are going to die," said Guttenberg.
The lawsuit, filed in Broward County Circuit Court, says the Guttenberg and Schachter families, hold both companies legally complicit for "the entirely foreseeable, deadly use of the assault-style weapons that they place on the market."
Before the lawsuit can go forward, judges must first clarify that gun manufacturers and sellers can be sued by victims or their families.
A 2001 state law -- Florida Statute 790.331 -- explicitly prohibits state, county and city government agencies from suing businesses over legal manufacture and sale of weapons that are used in crimes.
The law does not, however, state whether victims can sue on similar grounds.
Attorney's for Guttenberg and Schachter argue the law only applies to public or government entities, not victim's family's.
"A confusingly written Florida statute stands in the way," the lawsuit says, noting that the students' families will be forced to pay legal fees if they lose the case.
Others families who have been victims of gun violence, including the parents of Sandy Hook children, the grade school where 26 children and adults were murdered and the parents of victims killed in a movie theatre shooting in Aurora, Colorado have tried and failed with similar attempts; some families have faced financial ruin because of it.
It is the first lawsuit against the firearm industry in Florida since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Others have been filed against Cruz, the family that took him in after his mother's death and a school resource officer who didn't enter the building during the attack.
"I lost my kid, every minute of every day I think about my daughter running down the hallway of that school with an AR -15 at her back, on behalf of all of those families I hope that we get something done here," said Fred Guttenberg.
