Sandy Hook families call gunmaker’s request to seal documents ‘repugnant’

Attorney Joshua Koskoff, right, who represents a group of Sandy Hook families, speaks during a June hearing in Superior Court in Bridgeport Attorney Joshua Koskoff, right, who represents a group of Sandy Hook families, speaks during a June hearing in Superior Court in Bridgeport Photo: Ned Gerard / The Connecticut Post Via AP, Pool Photo: Ned Gerard / The Connecticut Post Via AP, Pool Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Sandy Hook families call gunmaker’s request to seal documents ‘repugnant’ 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

NEWTOWN - The families suing the maker of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook massacre have objected to the company’s request to block much of its internal documents from public view.

The families argued in a court document filed Tuesday that most of what Remington is asked to turn over in preparation for trial should be open to the public.

“The Remington defendants ask the court to order the plaintiffs to keep their secrets, in the name of preserving Remington’s competitive advantage among sellers of AR-15s,” the families’ lawyers argue in the court document. “For plaintiffs, such conditions are repugnant.”

Remington has asked the state Superior Court judge hearing the case to protect its internal documents as trade secrets.

The families disagree.

“Remington did not become the country’s leading seller of military weaponry to civilians by accident,” the families said in the document. “It ascended to that position through its calculated marketing and pursuit of profit above all else.”

Remington has until next week to respond to the families’ objection.

“Plaintiffs lost family members, including children, in the service of that bottom line,” the document reads. “Now Remington wants them to do more to protect its profitability.”