A lawsuit was filed on Monday against the manufacturer, distributor and seller of the firearm used to kill 26 students two years at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Conn., ABC News reported on Monday.
Nine of the families filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Bridgeport Superior Court. It says that the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle should not have been available for the public to buy because it's intended to be used by the military and not for hunting or home use.
"The AR-15 was specifically engineered for the United States military to meet the needs of changing warfare," attorney Josh Koskoff said in a release. "In fact, one of the Army's specifications for the AR-15 was that it has the capability to penetrate a steel helmet."
The lawsuit also names Camfour, a firearm seller, and Riverview Gun Sales, the East Windsor gun store where Nancy Lanza, the gunman's mother and a victim in the incident, bought the Bushmaster gun in 2010.
Bill Sherlach, who lost his wife, Mary, in the shooting, said he thinks the Second Amendment is important, but that gun manufacturers should be accountable for "standard business practices" when it comes to making and selling a product.
"These companies assume no responsibility for marketing and selling a product to the general population who are not trained to use it nor even understand the power of it," he said.
Probate records show that half of the first-graders killed in the shooting had estates set up for them, a move that is required to file such lawsuits. According to a court clerk, most of the parents indicated on the forms that they'd be filing wrongful death actions, NBC Connecticut reported.
Adam Lanza, the Newtown shooter, killed his mother on the morning of Dec. 14, 2012, before killing 20 children and six teachers with a semi-automatic rifle at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He later committed suicide as police were coming for him.
