How likely is it to win a lawsuit against a gun seller or manufacturer after a mass shooting?
UVALDE, Texas (Nexstar) — Uvalde families who are enduring the trauma of surviving the Robb Elementary School shooting filed a $27 billion class action lawsuit on Wednesday.
According to Charles Bonner, who is representing the families, they're seeking damages for the psychological trauma the shooting has caused. They're suing multiple entities including Law Enforcement, Uvalde CISD and the gun seller, and maker connected to the shooting.
Families can never forget the feeling of waiting to see whether their child survived or not. Videos of children being reunited with families, crying are still hard too watch.
"Surviving children report nightmares of the shooting, seeing bodies, threatening suicide, feeling like they are having heart attacks, severe anxiety to leave the house or be out of their house too long, scared to be left alone, afraid to shower with the door closed, anger, severe emotional changes in their lives," Bonner & Bonner Law Firm said in a written statement. "Parents are fearful for their children’s health and safety and are traumatized from dealing with the daily changes in their children."
Daniel Defense LLC made the gun the accused shooter used. The Oasis Outback is the business that sold it.
"Daniel Defense is making billions and billions of dollars killing our children," Bonner said. "His sales in the last nine years have increased 347%. He knows and he's aware and he's conscious that his guns are being used to kill."
How likely is it for families to win this portion of the case though?
Families filed a similar lawsuit after the Sandy Hook shooting and did win their case. In February, they settled a $73 million lawsuit against Remington — the maker of the AR-style rifle used in the shooting that killed dozens, mainly children.
"The key in the Sandy Hook case against the gun manufacturer, for example, was that Connecticut had a state law relating to consumer protection about advertising and marketing these dangerous weapons that was a law that they could pursue," Attorney Jama Alsaffar said.
Alsaffar was the lead attorney representing families of the Sutherland Springs church shooting. He argued for damages from The Academy Store, that sold the gun that shooter used. He was unsuccessful in that legal effort.
"That [Sutherland Springs] suit was not successful, because the Texas Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the federal law called PLCCA, that is the gun industry immunity law, that statute under Texas law did not allow that gun seller to be sued," Alsaffar said. "Every state has different laws...including safety laws about what gun sellers and gun manufacturers can and cannot do. "
There's no set standard when it comes to the likelihood of winning, since every case is different.
"The facts developed in discovery are really going to determine whether or not the law is going to allow those cases to go forward," Alsaffar said.
We reached out to Daniel Defense LLC and The Oasis Outback. Daniel Defense hasn't responded yet, and The Oasis had no comment.