Sandy Hook families face long road in gun lawsuit

Sandy Hook family members Mark Barden, left, and Bill Sherlach comment outside the Fairfield County Courthouse in Bridgeport on Tuesday. Sandy Hook family members Mark Barden, left, and Bill Sherlach comment outside the Fairfield County Courthouse in Bridgeport on Tuesday. Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Sandy Hook families face long road in gun lawsuit 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT — Standing in front of the Fairfield County Courthouse Tuesday afternoon, the parents of a teacher and a first-grader killed in the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings told a large gathering of news media they are prepared to go all the way with their lawsuit against the maker of the gun used to kill 20 children and six teachers at the school.

“We deserve our day in court,” said Mark Barden, whose 7-year-old son was killed in the Newtown elementary school.

“We are going to continue to march on with this,” added William Sherlach, whose wife, a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary, was also killed.

How long a road they have to travel was made evident when it took the lawyers for both sides an hour just to agree on a court date two years from now — April 3, 2018.

In January 2015, the families of 10 victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy filed suit against the Remington Outdoor Co., the maker of the Bushmaster rifle used by Adam Lanza to kill the students and teachers at the school after he fatally shot his mother with a .22 caliber rifle. Lanza later turned the Bushmaster rifle on himself at the school. The families also sued Camfour Holding LLC, the gun’s distributor, and Riverview Sales, the store where Lanza’s mother bought the gun.

They claimed the gunmaker and sellers knew that civilians are unfit to operate the assault rifle and yet continue selling it to civilians, disregarding the threat the gun poses.

That last week’s decision by Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis refusing to dismiss the case — a ruling hailed by anti-assault-weapon advocates — was just the first step in a very long legal process.

Under the state’s civil law procedure, the next step in the case is the discovery process, in which the plaintiffs request information from the defendants.

“Our position is, the time is now for discovery, and that it’s been a long time coming,” said Joshua Koskoff, the lawyer for the Sandy Hook families.

But the defendants’ lawyer filed a motion Tuesday to stay disclosure while they prepare other motions, including one to strike, seeking to have the judge throw out parts or all of the case. A hearing on that request has been scheduled for June 20.