The families of 10 people who were injured or killed in a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, have sued gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson.
On July 4, a shooter opened fire with a Smith & Wesson semiautomatic rifle, killing seven people and injuring more than 40. According to the lawsuits filed this week, 21-year-old Robert Crimo, who is also facing criminal charges, is responsible — but so is Smith & Wesson, for marketing practices that allegedly target young men seeking “more adrenaline.” The victims have also sued online distributor Bud’s Gun Shop and Illinois store Red Dot Arms, for allegedly violating a local assault weapons ban, and Crimo’s father.
The gun industry has been immune to nearly all lawsuits since Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act in 2005, which has made it difficult for victims of mass shootings to go after gun manufacturers in court. Meanwhile, lawsuits are standard when products from cars to cigarettes cause deaths. But in February, families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting got a $73 million settlement after suing Remington Arms, the manufacturer that made the gun used. They were able to get around that law protecting the gun industry by going after Remington Arms’ marketing.
“Until our case, I think people thought of it as a perfect immunity that couldn’t ever be overcome,” attorney Josh Koskoff told CBS News in May. “But they engaged in marketing that anybody would say was just beyond the pale — immoral, unethical.”
The lawsuits from the Highland Park victims similarly focus on the marketing.
According to the lawsuit, Smith & Wesson implies that its assault weapons are used by the US military, but that isn’t true. Smith & Wesson also creates ads that mimic first-person shooter video games like Call of Duty, in which players often shoot at human targets.
One ad from 2015 has the tagline “Experience real-life first person
shooting with the Smith & Wesson M&P rifle,” according to the lawsuit. During the ad, a narrator tells consumers to “experience more adrenaline.” The lawsuit also alleges that Smith & Wesson targets young consumers to ensure they stay customers for life.
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/paigeskinner/highland-park-sues-smith-wesson
