Freedom Group seeks dismissal of Sandy Hook lawsuit

| February 23, 2016

Bushmaster XM15-E2S

Ex-PH2 sends us a link to the Chicago Tribune which reports that Freedom Group, the North Carolina company that makes the Bushmaster scary-looking rifle that the shooter used to kill 20 children and six adults in Connecticut asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit against their company that the victims’ families filed against them charging the company with the responsibility for those deaths.

Joshua Koskoff, a lawyer for the victims’ families, said their lawsuit is believed to be the first to be filed under an exception listed in the federal law that allows litigation against companies that know, or should know, that their weapons are likely to be used in a way that risks injury to others. The families are seeking unspecified monetary damages and hope the lawsuit persuades gun companies to not sell AR-15s to the public.

“This is an instrument of war designed for the battlefield that is marketed and sold to the general public,” said Mark Barden, whose son Daniel was killed in the massacre. “We’re just asking for accountability.”

The shooter killed his mother – the person who bought the weapon legally – and stole it from her. So somehow, the manufacturer is responsible for the way the firearm was acquired, too. Maybe they should sue the manufacturer of the firearm that the shooter used to kill his own mother. I’d remind my readers that the gun laws in Connecticut prevented the shooter from buying his own gun legally, so the response of the victims is to write more gun laws that would prevent law abiding citizens from owning guns. And a couple of million dollars in a settlement agreement probably wouldn’t hurt, either.

Category: Gun Grabbing Fascists

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MSG Eric

Well if this is the way it is going to be, then if I have a heart attack, I’m suing McDonald’s, KFC, Wendy’s, etc.

If I get diabetes, I’m suing Pepsico and Hagendaas.

If I get a DUI, I’m suing anheiser-busch and heineken.

If I fall down my own stairs, I’m suing the construction company that built it.

If I end up needing glasses, I’m suing porno and computer companies.

The Other Whitey

Don’t forget to sue Ford for the DUI. You couldn’t drive drunk if they didn’t sell you the vehicle, so clearly they are responsible.

Cable Dawg

You can’t save stupid from itself.

Sooner or later, Darwin wins. I’m pulling for sooner in this case.

Ex-PH2

If my car gets stolen and is used in a bank robbery, I’m suing the auto manufacturer.

Reb

So, if I’m in the bank that the assholes robbed after stealing EX-PH2s ride who the hell can I sue?
Via law, absolutely NO ONE, UNLESS, I shot the robbers back into their mother’s womb and I was hit by shattered pieces of skull.
Can I sue S&W because I was injured using my gun? ?

Silentium Est Aureum

Yeah, just like Jimmy Janos, et al, it’s not about the money, but if you can kick a few million our way, that’d be great.

Bobo

Freedom Group has more money than what’s left of the shooter’s family. Just saying.

OldSoldier54

How i0s that germane?

Peter the Bubblehead

This suit makes as much sense as suing Ford when a Muslim steals a car and uses it to drive into a crowd of people

19D2OR4-Smitty

Dont be bringing my Ford into this, Toyota or Opal would be their ‘go to’ cars. 🙂

A Proud Infidel®™

They can’t use Volkswagens when they go into splodeydope mode.

Ex-PH2

Mine, neither, Peter. You gonna hurt is feelings.

Peter the Bubblehead

Well you didn’t expect me to name a manly vehicle like a Jeep, did you? 😉

A Proud Infidel®™

Maybe they need to sue the State of Connecticut for not committing him when his Mother was making every effort to do so? It’s a proven fact that she was trying to do that and the authorities did nothing, now people are dead.

Aysel

^^this. I’ve had this same thought every time I hear about this.

OldSoldier54

That’s how I remember it, also.

nbcguy54ACTUAL

Instrument of war eh?

M1 Garand
M1911 .45
Hummer
Jeep

and the list goes on.

Gonna sue the companies that make/made those too?

Silentium Est Aureum

And the woobie. Don’t forget those animals that made your woobie!

The Other Whitey

Radio
Can opener
Shovel
Forklift
Bulldozer
Flashlight
Rain poncho
Backpack
Multitool
Matches
Packaged food
Sleeping bag
Helicopter
Rope
Tent

All tools of war. They must be dangerous!

UpNorth

Don’t forget, towels and wash cloths. Brooms, floor polishers and wax.

Reb

Hair spray..

nbcguy54ACTUAL

Unleash the Dogs of War!

The ASPCA will not be happy…

2/17 Air Cav

In response to a push from anti-gun nuts who were suing or seeking to sue gun makers and sellers whose products were used in murderous ways, Congress passed and GW signed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) in 2005. The law shields gun makers from liability when their products are used criminally or negligently, subject to specific exceptions. The exceptions are:
(1) an action brought against someone convicted of “knowingly transfer[ing] a firearm, knowing that such firearm will be used to commit a crime of violence” by someone directly harmed by such unlawful conduct;
(2) an action brought against a seller for negligent entrustment or negligence per se;
(3) an action in which a manufacturer or seller of a qualified product knowingly violated a State or Federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing of the product, and the violation was a proximate cause of the harm for which relief is sought;
(4) an action for breach of contract or warranty in connection with the purchase of the product;
(5) an action for death, physical injuries or property damage resulting directly from a defect in design or manufacture of the product, when used as intended or in a reasonably foreseeable manner, except that where the discharge of the product was caused by a volitional act that constituted a criminal offense, then such act shall be considered the sole proximate cause of any resulting death, personal injuries or property damage; or
(6) an action commenced by the Attorney General to enforce the Gun Control Act or the National Firearms Act.

I do not see where the victims’ lawyer finds an exception that applies to the law’s no- liability goal. Do you? The fact that the rifle was this or that is neither here nor there. It was a legally sold and purchased weapon. It was stolen from its owner. It was used a murderous bastard. Motion to dismiss granted!

Hondo

Any person with common sense and no agenda would read the law that way, 2/17 Air Cav. But here, the matter will be considered by a judge in “true blue” Connecticut. That individual may well have the latter (an agenda) without having the former (common sense).

Bobo

There is also a good chance that the lawyer has judge shopped and found one who is more than willing to side with him/her.

OC

2/17 the lawyer knows all of what you posted to be true. He also knows that in liberal CT. he still has a decent shot at a settlement.

Roh-Dog

As an unfortunate son of the state of CT I agree.

Ex-PH2

Oh, please: death when used the way it was intended? That is so full of holes!!!

Or have you all forgotten the 1982 Tylenol poisonings? 7 people simply took extra strength Tylenol from boxes right off the store shelves, not knowing it was laced with cyanide. And while James Lewis (NYC) was considered a prime suspect because he wrote an extortion letter to J&J, there was no proof other than his say-so. However, he was convicted of extortion.

‘Proper use’ – gigglesnort.

(P.S. If you can’t tell I was being snarkastic, you’re not paying attention.)

GDContractor

“Grab your Bushmaster boys! We’re headed into battle!” Said no one ever.

2/17 Air Cav

GDC: I was starting to worry about you, wondering which jail you were in–this time!

David

Ii obviously wasted my years in…. never once did I see an AR-15.

I just can’t figure it out… if the only purpose of an AR is to kill, and the FBI says ALL long gun deaths amount to maybe 300+ a year, and there are 8-9,000,000 ARs in circulation – does no one ever shoot them? Or are we, as a nation, a bunch of rotten shots? We should have millions of deaths a year….

Instinct

Well, the AR’s are supposed to go do the killing all on their own, but in general AR’s are a bunch of lazy ass rifles.

I know this for a fact because I have one and all it does is sit around talking shit with my 1911 about which one is more bad ass.

Reb

I was told by a wise man, if you buy guns, etc, not from a gunstore.

Buy from people and gun shows, so their not registered. Of course I have to register the ones we carry.

NOBODY CAN TAKE AWAY “what’s not registered”. We all know it’s has happened in other countries.