Two years after the school shooting that killed 26 people in Newtown, Connecticut, the families of the victims are suing the maker of the rifle used in the rampage.
Bloomberg News reported that the lawsuit was filed against Bushmaster Firearms, the maker of the weapon. In addition, Camfour, the gun distributor and the now-closed Riverview Gun Sales where the gun was purchased, were also named in the suit.
The Associated Press noted that nine of the victim’s families and one survivor filed the negligence and wrongful death suit. It claims that the AR-15 assault rifle used in the shootings was a designed specifically for military use and should not have otherwise been made available.
“In order to continue profiting from the sale of AR-15s, defendants chose to disregard the unreasonable risks the rifle posed outside of specialized, highly regulated institutions like the armed forces and law enforcement,” the plaintiffs wrote in the complaint.
On December 14, 2012, gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother before driving to Sandy Hook Elementary School and fatally shooting 20 children and six adults.
He then turned the gun on himself when emergency personnel arrived.