Virginia Gun Rights

Last week, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis allowed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Remington, Camfour Inc., and the East Windsor Gun Shop to move forward.  The suit was brought by families of the victims of the Sandy Hook School shooting.  Previous attempts to hold firearms manufacturers accountable for the actions of third parties have been stopped by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.  The defendants in this case have asserted that the Act does not apply here as well.  The attorneys for the family believe they have found an exception known as a “negligent-entrustment claim”. Under that type of claim, a seller can be held liable for supplying a product to a person it reasonably could have known posed a risk to themselves or others.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Judge Bellis didn’t consider the merits of the claims by the families in her ruling.

One of the plaintiffs in the case wrote in USA Today that the case is not against manufactures, but against the AR-15 Rifle.

This case is not about all gun makers; it’s about the AR-15. Remington’s targeted marketing makes military-style massacres accessible to unscreened civilians. The company’s strategy is responsible for the Sandy Hook massacre. The families have a right, even a responsibility, to hold it accountable.

If that is the case, then why do FBI data show that Rifles/shotguns are used in only a small number of violent crimes compared to other weapons?  Fists are used to kill in twice to almost three times as many murders than rifles.  Even anti-gun law professor Adam Winkler admits that going after semi-automatic firearms will do nothing to reduce crime.

In the below video, author and columnist Frank Miniter talks about the lawsuit with NRANews.com Cam and Company host Cam Edwards. Miniter addressed the point about the AR-15 rifle and discussed how it is the single most popular semi-automatic rifle in the nation.

Originally aired on Cam & Co 04/21/16.