Sandy Hook families fight gunmaker’s latest request to dismiss lawsuit

Attorney Joshua Koskoff, who represents 10 families of Sandy Hook massacre victims who are suing Remington in Bridgeport Superior Court. Attorney Joshua Koskoff, who represents 10 families of Sandy Hook massacre victims who are suing Remington in Bridgeport Superior Court. Photo: / Ned Gerard Photo: / Ned Gerard Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Sandy Hook families fight gunmaker’s latest request to dismiss lawsuit 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

NEWTOWN — The 10 families of Sandy Hook shooting victims suing the nation’s oldest gunmaker are fighting the corporation’s third attempt in five months to have their lawsuit dismissed.

The families’ lead attorney argues in a newly filed motion the judge should deny Remington’s latest appeal to dismiss the case, because it would circumvent preparations for the 2018 trial to which both sides have already agreed.

“This latest procedural contortion, like those that preceded it, is designed to preclude discovery and avoid a trial on its merits,” attorney Joshua Koskoff wrote in documents filed Wednesday in state Superior Court in Bridgeport.

The families’ motion is the latest development in an 18-month-old wrongful-death lawsuit that has become one of the highest-profile gun-industry court cases in the country.

What began as an improbable venture in 2014, when the families sued the manufacturer, the distributor and the seller of the AR-15-type rifle used by Adam Lanza in the shooting of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook School, looks more like a landmark case the closer the two sides move to trial.

The case was one of the defining issues of the Democratic presidential primary between Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Sanders said he supported a 2005 federal law that shields the gun industry from most claims when someone misuses a firearm. Clinton, who voted against the law as a senator, said it should be repealed.

Remington argues it manufactured a legal firearm, and it is protected from liability under the 2005 federal law.

The families are trying to exploit an exception in the law that allows a gun manufacturer to be sued if it knew or should have known a firearm could be used to harm others.

Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis denied Remington’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit in April and ordered the gunmaker to begin exchanging evidence with the families in preparation for trial.

The judge has yet to rule on two other motions by Remington to dismiss the case, including its most recent motion for summary judgment.

The two sides are due back in court Sept. 15.