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Judge Strikes Down Newtown Family Lawsuit Against Firearm Maker

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Kerry Picket Political Reporter
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A Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit Friday by Newtown families against the manufacturer of the firearm used in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, citing federal law that protects manufacturers from the majority of lawsuits relating to criminal use of their products, also known as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).

Judge Barbara Bellis granted a motion to strike the lawsuit against Remington Arms, a North Carolina based firearms maker, by the families of the nine children and adults who survived the massacre four years ago when gunman Adam Lanza entered the school and killed 20 kids children and six adults with an AR-15 style rifle.

PLCAA was passed by Congress in 2005 and signed into law by George W. Bush. Hillary Clinton voted against the bill when she was a senator representing New York. As part of her campaign platform she has promised to repeal the law whether by Congress or through executive order.

“We need a national movement” to demand action in Congress and at the state level, Clinton said at a community meeting in Hartford, Connecticut back in May at a YMCA, The Washington Post reported.

“The gun lobby is the most powerful lobby in Washington,” she said. “They have figured out how to really intimidate elected officials, at all levels, who basically stop thinking about this problem because they are too scared of the NRA,” she continued, referring to the National Rifle Association.

 

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