Extended Sandy Hook lawsuit might just be what the plaintiffs need
When a Connecticut judge last week allowed family members of Sandy Hook Elementary shooting victims to continue their lawsuit against a gun manufacturer, experts saw the decision as a means to put off deciding the legal merits of the case.
Those experts are undoubtedly right, but several of them also believe extending the case opens the door -- just a crack -- to the possibility that plaintiffs may score a legal victory.
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There was reason to think that the lawsuit -- brought by several families against Bushmaster Firearms, which manufactured the weapon used in the 2012 massacre -- wouldn't even get off the ground.
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, passed in 2005, defends gun manufacturers from many liability claims that deal with actions taken by people who have bought the company's weapons.
This law was in no way challenged by the recent ruling in Connecticut, which simply said the case would not be dismissed. But there's a chance it will set in motion a chain of events that lead to an unwanted outcome for Bushmaster and other gun manufacturers.
Bushmaster almost certainly doesn't have to worry about losing the case, but it also wants to avoid a major settlement and any negative publicity around the case that could sour public opinion toward them, according to John Goldberg, a tort law expert at Harvard Law School.
"The gun manufacturers are going to have to weigh risks against other risks," Goldberg told Mashable. "If they do end up settling this, then that's a signal to other plaintiffs out there that if they get a somewhat favorable ruling from a judge, then they can succeed as well."
Goldberg and Sachin Pandya, a tort law expert at the University of Connecticut, both floated the idea that Bushmaster may be concerned that any unsavory business practices -- if there are any to speak of -- could come to light as the trial carries on.
But these are still significant what-ifs. When it comes down to it, Pandya, Goldberg and other experts believe it's far too early to talk about any earth-shattering fallout from a case that has yet to truly begin.
"I don't think these companies have anything that they're hiding," Joyce Malcolm, a Second Amendment expert at George Mason University, told Mashable. "The suit is just going to cost them money or the company's going to settle."
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Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
