Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting: Families of 9 Victims Reach $73 Million Settlement [Full Details]

The families of the five kids and four adults who were fatally shot in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting have reached a $73 million settlement with Remington, a now-bankrupt gun manufacturer, and its four insurers.

The moment comes nearly a decade after the families of the victims filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Remington. The gun manufacturer was the one who made the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle that the gunman used in the massacre that left a total of 20 people dead in Newtown, Connecticut.

Massive Settlement

Furthermore, the complainants' attorneys said that they have obtained thousands of pages of internal company documents that they can make public. The records could allegedly prove the gun manufacturer's wrongdoing and carry important lessons for helping prevent more mass shootings in the future.

During a news conference in Trumbull, Connecticut, Josh Koshoff, plaintiffs' attorney, said that the accusers established what was clearly true. They argued that the immunity protecting the gun industry was not bulletproof and had its weaknesses. He said that the families of the victims hoped this incident would show them that they were vulnerable and responsible for their mistakes, as per CNN.

Veronique de la Rosa, the mother of six-year-old Noah Pozner, one of the victims of the shooting, said during a Tuesday press conference that the settlement was an "inflection point." She added that the moment bore a day of accountability for an industry that enjoyed operating with immunity and impunity.

The families of the victims argued in their lawsuit against Remington that the gun manufacturer marketed the weapon irresponsibly. The plaintiffs claimed that the company's target audience was the at-risk young men, such as the Sandy Hook Elementary shooter. Their product advertisements were inserted in violent video games.

However, NBC News reported that the gun manufacturer, which was based in Madison, North Carolina, has repeatedly denied the allegations of the plaintiffs. Remington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting

Koshoff said that the nine families involved in the lawsuit shared one goal, which was to prevent another incident, like the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, from happening. The plaintiffs said that the central aim of the case was to pry open the gun industry and expose it to more scrutiny.

The gun manufacturer previously resisted turning over any internal documents, arguing that the plaintiffs had not provided a legal justification in seeking them. Additionally, Remington proposed a $33 million settlement with the families of the victims last year prior to a trial date.

Legal experts said, during the beginning of the case, that the plaintiffs had little chance of succeeding in prosecuting the gun manufacturer. They argued that the families of the victims' claims would be blocked by federal protections for companies like Remington from most litigation when their weapons are used to commit a crime.

However, the lawsuit took advantage of an exception built into the law that allowed for litigation over sales and marketing practices that violate state and federal law. After a series of ups and downs in the legal system, the families of the victims brought an appeal that elevated the case to the State Supreme Court, drawing interest from both sides of the gun debate, the New York Times reported.