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 The move could help Remington by taking the suit out of the hands
of a state system that might be influenced by local issues, said
Timothy Lytton, a professor at Albany Law School.
"The defendants must believe they have a better chance of stopping
the lawsuit in federal court than in state court," he said, adding
that federal courts have a track record of rejecting gun
manufacturer liability cases.
Ten families of the victims of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut,
filed suit in state court in December against Remington, owner of
Bushmaster Firearms International, which manufactured the AR-15
rifle used in the attack.
The 40-page suit argues that Remington was liable for making the
weapon available to 20-year-old shooter Adam Lanza, who gunned down
20 first-graders and six staff at the school on Dec. 14, 2012 in one
of the deadliest such shootings in U.S. history.
 Remington Outdoor Co Inc [FREDM.UL] filed papers with the U.S.
District Court in Hartford late last week to have the suit moved
there on the grounds the company's headquarters are in North
Carolina, beyond Connecticut jurisdiction.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Chatigny agreed to take on the
case, a federal court clerk said on Thursday, adding a hearing will
be scheduled shortly.
A federal law, the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,
blocks liability suits against gunmakers when their products are
used to commit crimes, but allows some exceptions.
[to top of second column] |
Attorney Katie Mesner-Hage, one of the lawyers for the Sandy Hook
families, said on Thursday the plaintiffs will be asking the judge
to remand the case back to state court.
"What matters (for federal jurisdiction) is that none of the
defendants can be from the same state as any of the plaintiffs," she
said, noting that the families bringing suit and one of the
defendants, the store that sold the murder weapon, are all situated
in Connecticut.
The two other defendants named in the suit are based elsewhere -
Remington in North Carolina and its subsidiary, Bushmaster Firearms
International, in Maine.
(Editing by Richard Valdmanis, Andre Grenon and Eric Walsh)
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