For two years, a group of families in Newtown, Conn., quietly laid the groundwork for a legal case against the maker and sellers of the assault rifle that on Dec. 14, 2012, claimed 26 lives — and shattered their own — in less than five minutes.
The shooting at was carried out with an AR-15, a military-style assault rifle that has surfaced in recent mass shootings, like Aurora, Colo., and San Bernardino, Calif. On the eve of a hearing to determine whether the lawsuit can proceed, a rifle similar to the AR-15 was used yet again — in an attack early Sunday at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.,the deadliest shooting in American history.
The legal challenge faces long odds, and a key hearing next week will determine its future. But the lawsuit has already progressed further than many had expected — a Connecticut judge has set a trial date and has ordered the defendants to turn over documents — and no matter the outcome, it represents a muscular campaign against the powerful gun industry.
The lawsuit seeks to overcome the broad immunity given to gun makers and sellers under a 2005 federal law, protecting them from liability when guns are used in a crime. But there is a small window for holding companies accountable, including instances of so-called negligent entrustment, in which a gun is carelessly given or sold to a person posing a high risk of misusing it.
