Newtown Bushmaster Lawsuit - Barely a day after the 2nd anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre was marked, families of 10 of the 26 victims of the brazen attack have initiated legal action against the manufacturer of the weapon used in the shooting.
According to the plaintiffs, who filed their case in a Conneticut Superior court, the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle that Adam Lanza used to attack and kill 26 people, including his mother, on Dec. 12, 2012, should not be sold like an ordinary handgun or a hunting rifle.
The Newtown Bushmaster lawsuit says the AR-15 is a 'combat' weapon, which can penetrate body armor and release up to 30 bullets in a few seconds.
"This is a weapon that is designed for military use, for killing as many people as efficiently as possible," the lawyer of the plaintiffs Michael Koskoff of Koskoff & Bieder said. He described it as 'negligent' for Bushmaster to put the gun on sale for the general public.
"The risk of a mentally unstable individual gaining access to an assault rifle and unleashing its military firepower on innocent civilians is not theoretical for Bushmaster. It's a fact," Katie Mesner-Hage of Koskoff & Beider, says.
The plaintiffs, who filed the Newtown Bushmaster lawsuit include about 9 students of the Sandy Hook Elementary School and a teacher. The plaintiffs are all victims of Lanza's shooting rampage.
The Newtown Bushmaster lawsuit also indicts gun distributors, Camfour and Riverview Guns, who are believed to have contributed to the fact that the AR-15 was available for sale in Riverview in 2010.
The Sandy Hook massacre, which is regarded as one of the most gruesome school attacks in recent times, has led to calls for the regulation of gun sales across the country. Among other precautionary measures, pundits are calling for background checks for all gun buyers, outlawing the sale of certain military-standard weapons and limiting the number of bullets civilians are allowed to have in their weapons.
20 years old Lanza used his mother's guns in the Sandy Hook massacre. The teenager, who later killed himself, let off many rounds during the rampage.
The defendants in the Newtown Bushmaster lawsuit have not commented on the filing of the case in court.
