Lawsuit Against Remington Brought by Newtown Families is Dismissed

A right is still a right, for now.

A Connecticut judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Newtown families against the maker of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, saying federal law shields gun manufacturers from most lawsuits over criminal use of their products.

Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis on Friday granted a motion by Madison, North Carolina-based Remington Arms to strike the lawsuit by the families of nine children and adults killed and a teacher who survived the 2012 attack. A gunman killed 20 children and six adults at the school with an AR-15-style rifle.

Bellis cited the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act passed by Congress in 2005 that protected gun makers from such lawsuits. The families’ lawyers said their lawsuit was allowed under an exception to the act, but Bellis disagreed.

The anti-gun lobby was really, really hoping that this end-around play would work so they could use it again. This is akin to suing an automobile manufacturer for deaths caused by drunk drivers. It’s absolutely nonsensical but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have worked in the hands of the wrong judge. Given how many awful activist judges there are out there, this was a pretty close call.

Failure here doesn’t mean the tactic won’t be tried again. The “we’re not going to take your guns” crowd wants to pick away at what is legal until they can just shrug and say, “Hey, it wasn’t us, it was the courts!”

There is no rest for the wicked, and the people who constantly lie about their intentions are very wicked indeed.