Gun control advocates say Newtown ruling is bad precedent

Gun control advocates are asking the Connecticut Supreme Court for permission to argue against a judge’s decision last year to dismiss a wrongful-death lawsuit against the maker of the rifle used in the 2012 Newtown school shooting, saying the ruling would set a bad precedent.

State Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis ruled in October that the lawsuit filed by some of the Newtown victims’ families against Remington Arms wasn’t allowed because of a federal law that shields gun makers from liability, in most cases, when their products are used in crimes.

A survivor of the attack and the families of nine killed are appealing that ruling to the state Supreme Court in a case that centers on the few exceptions to the federal law.

The suit seeks to hold Remington accountable for selling what their lawyers call a semiautomatic rifle that is too dangerous for the public because it was designed as a military killing machine.

Gun control advocates recently asked the high court for permission to file briefs in the case, hoping to persuade the justices to reverse a potentially precedent-setting decision that could be used by gun makers to fend off lawsuits filed under the exceptions to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

“The trial court broadly and improperly interpreted the law to provide far greater protection for irresponsible gun companies than Congress ever intended,” said Jonathan Lowy, director of the Legal Action Project at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.