Newtown Action Alliance Applauds Ruling to Give Sandy Hook Families Their Day in Court

For Immediate Release
April 18, 2016

Contact:
John Kelley
jkelley@newtownaction.org
917-679-6475

Newtown Action Alliance Applauds Ruling to Give Sandy Hook Families Their Day in Court

Newtown, CT – Newtown Action Alliance released the following statement after Connecticut State Judge Barbara Bellis rejected the gun companies’ motion to dismiss the civil lawsuit filed by Sandy Hook families under the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA):

We applaud Judge Barbara Bellis’s ruling to allow the Sandy Hook families their day in court. The devastating and senseless shooting that occurred on December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School, demonstrates that AR-15s and other military-style assault rifles should not be marketed or sold to civilians. Civil litigation and access to courts are important levers that been used to hold corporations accountable for their harmful business practices. The gun industry must also be held accountable for its harmful business practices that took the innocent lives of 20 children and six educators in an elementary school.

According to a New York Daily News report, the country’s four biggest gun makers raked in over $632 million since the tragic shooting in Newtown. Meanwhile, there have been more than 100,000 gun deaths and over 200,000 gun injuries in the same period of time. The gun makers are making record profits while more Americans lose their loved ones to gun violence.

We hope this lawsuit will continue to move forward and there will be a positive outcome for the Sandy Hook families. Meanwhile, we will continue to urge Congress to repeal PLCAA, a congressional gift to the gun industry. Last week, families who have been negatively impacted by PLCAA met with members of Congress or the gun policy advisors to ask them to repeal PLCAA. Lonnie Phillips, the stepfather of Jessica Ghawi, who was killed in the Aurora movie theater shooting, met with Senator Bernie Sanders’ lead counsel to discuss Senator Sanders’ stance on PLCAA. A coalition of gun violence prevention advocates also hand-delivered petitions signed by a quarter million Americans to every member of Congress asking them to repeal PLCAA.

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The Newtown Action Alliance (www.newtownaction.org) is a grassroots organization formed after the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It works to make America’s children, families, and all citizens safer through legislative and cultural change that will reduce gun violence.