Nine families who were victims of the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 have reached a $73 million settlement on Feb. 22 against Remington Arms, the company who was the maker of the gun that was used to kill 20 elementary students and six educators.
“The civil court case in Connecticut focused on how the firearm used by the Newtown shooter — a Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle — was marketed, alleging it targeted younger, at-risk males in advertising and product placement in violent video games. In one of Remington’s ads, it features the rifle against a plain backdrop and the phrase: ‘Consider Your Man Card Reissued,” according to The Associated Press.
Jasmine Saldana, sophomore criminal justice major, said, “Civilians don’t need to have access to such advanced weapons that can lead to mass shooting and deaths, This settlement shouldn’t have taken this long, it’s been 10 years and gun right laws are consistently changing as these shootings have continued.”
Sandy Hook marked a dramatic change in the view of gun control in the U.S. schools around the country began increasing security protocols like never seen before. In elementary schools, middle schools and high schools, metal detectors were built, extra sets of walls before entering the buildings were added and a general fear in places of education lingered.
According to The Associated Press, “The families and a survivor of the shooting sued Remington in 2015, saying the company should have never sold such a dangerous weapon to the public. They said their focus was on preventing future mass shootings by forcing gun companies to be more responsible with their products and how they market them.”
President Joe Biden commented on the case, “While this settlement does not erase the pain of that tragic day, it does begin the necessary work of holding gun manufacturers accountable for manufacturing weapons of war and irresponsibly marketing these firearms.” This case was important to both gun control advocates, gun rights supporters and manufacturers because it sets a precedent for victims’ abilities to sue firearm makers.
Saldana said, “NSU and other schools should provide more security and training on how to act when these threats happen. In high school we had code red drills but in college we should have similar practices, so students know what to do.”
The Associated Press also stated, “Remington, one of the nation’s oldest gun makers founded in 1816, filed for bankruptcy for a second time in 2020 and its assets were later sold off to several companies. The manufacturer was weighed down by lawsuits and retail sales restrictions following the school shooting.”
Remington Arms had attempted to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court after the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled the company could be sued over how they marketed the rifle, however they declined to hear it.
“Today is about what is right and what is wrong,” said Francine Wheeler, whose 6-year-old son, Ben, was killed in the shooting. “Our legal system has given us some justice today. But …David and I will never have true justice. True justice would be our 15-year-old healthy and standing next to us right now. But Benny will never be 15. He will be 6 forever because he is gone forever.”
Though this shooting took place at an elementary school, the threat is at all places of education. Saldana commented saying, “In regard to the threat itself, we need to have more resource officers available for a faster response to safety. Having a requirement of only two resource officers is not enough. Though public safety is helpful, we need to have armed officers available to act on situations.”
