Connecticut Supreme Court Rules Soto v. Bushmaster May Proceed
Despite the strenuous objections of Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson, a narrow majority of Justices have ruled that the Soto v. Bushmaster case can be revived. The reversal of a lower court ruling was based on a section of the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA). Using that argument, Remington, the manufacturer of the Bushmaster rifle shooter Adam Lanza used to kill 20 first graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, could be liable for marketing “what it knew was a weapon designed for military use to civilians like Nancy and Adam Lanza.”The court’s ruling didn’t rule on the merit of the argument, saying only the families of the victims should have the “opportunity to prove that Remington violated the CUTPA.” Using this reasoning, the judges concluded that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act “does not bar the plaintiffs from proceeding on the single, limited theory that the defendants violated CUTPA by marketing the XM15- E2S to civilians for criminal purposes, and that those wrongful marketing tactics caused or contributed to the Sandy Hook massacre.
Accordingly, on the basis of that limited theory, we conclude that the plaintiffs have pleaded allegations sufficient to survive a motion to strike and are entitled to have the opportunity to prove their wrongful marketing allegations.” Attorneys for Remington and Camfour, the firearms distributor that sold Riverview Gun Shop the AR-15 Lanza used, held their position that the PLCCA protects them from just this type of lawsuit. The National Shooting Sports Foundation issued a statement saying the decision “is at odds with all other state and federal appellate courts that have interpreted the scope of the exception.”
The Second Amendment Foundation was more direct, calling the decision “like suing Ford or General Motors because a car they sold was stolen and used to run over a pedestrian all because the car manufacturers advertised that their car had better acceleration and performance than other vehicles.”
