What’s next a class action suit against fork manufacturers on behalf of obese Americans? The Wall Street Journal reports:
Remington Arms Co. will pay $73 million to families who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in a landmark settlement that could open the door to more lawsuits seeking to hold gun companies liable for mass shootings.
The settlement is the largest of its kind and first since a federal law was enacted in 2005 providing gun makers with broad protection from liability in the unlawful use of their weapons, said Timothy Lytton, Georgia State University College of Law professor. Gun manufacturers have paid settlements in the past 17 years to gun owners over alleged product defects, but not to victims of gun violence.
The settlement will be evenly divided among nine families who lost loved ones in the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and six staff members dead.
Remington didn’t admit liability in the settlement, according to a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry trade group. Attorneys representing the company, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The gun industry may now face more lawsuits attempting to hold them liable for mass shootings committed with their products, said Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has written a history of gun laws.
“Gun makers have been resting secure with the knowledge that they can’t be held liable when their guns are used in a mass shooting,” said Mr. Winkler. “This opens up that possibility.”
Industry representatives argued that the settlement won’t affect other gun makers because it was agreed to by Remington’s insurers after the company went bankrupt. Functioning firearms manufacturers would more vigorously defend themselves, they said.
The federal law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, “will continue to block baseless lawsuits that attempt to blame lawful industry companies for the criminal acts of third parties,” said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents gun makers.
Action Line: If you haven’t already, it’s time to get your guns and your training now. Anti-gun activists are ramping up pressure on Joe Biden to do more to infringe on your Second Amendment rights. You need to be prepared. Get prepared with me by clicking here to sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.
