Severe weather possible tomorrow afternoon into the evening
February 16, 2022
Coast Guard Searching for Missing Cruise Ship Passenger off of Louisiana Coast
February 16, 2022
Yesterday, February 15, 2022, the families of nine victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting secured a $73 million settlement against gun manufacturer Remington Arms Co., the maker of the AR-15-style rifle used to kill 20 first-graders and six faculty members in the Sandy Hook massacre.
President Joe Biden praised the historic settlement in a statement released by the White House while acknowledging no amount of money can mend the broken hearts of the families affected. “While this settlement does not erase the pain of that tragic day, it does begin the necessary work of holding gun manufacturers accountable for manufacturing weapons of war and irresponsibly marketing these firearms,” said President Biden.
He continued, “This progress is the result of the perseverance of nine families who turned tragedy into purpose. They have demonstrated that state and city consumer protection laws – like Connecticut’s Unfair Trade Practices Act – provide an opportunity to hold gun manufacturers and dealers accountable for wrongdoing despite the persistence of the federal immunity shield for these companies.”
On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanzo entered Sandy Hook Elementary School shortly after 9:30 a.m. with a semiautomatic rifle, two semi automatic pistols, and multiple rounds of ammunition; killing 20 first-graders and six educators before turning the gun on himself. The massacre was the second deadliest mass shooting, following the 2007 Virginia Tech Mass Shooting.
Remington argued there was no evidence to establish that its marketing had anything to do with the shooting.
President Biden credited the families of the nine victims for turning “tragedy into purpose” saying, “As I have repeatedly called for, Congress must repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act so we can fully hold gun manufacturers and dealers accountable. But, in the meantime, I will continue to urge state and local lawmakers, lawyers, and survivors of gun violence to pursue efforts to replicate the success of the Sandy Hook families. Together, we can deliver a clear message to gun manufacturers and dealers: they must either change their business models to be part of the solution for the gun violence epidemic, or they will bear the financial cost of their complicity.”
