Sandy Hook Families Sue Bushmaster

Two years ago yesterday, Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and fired 154 bullets in less than five minutes, killing 20 small children and six educators. Today, the families of nine of the victims, along with a wounded teacher who survived, have filed suit against the maker of Lanza's "weapon of choice," the Bushmaster AR-15, reports the Daily Beast. "The number of lives lost in those 264 seconds was made possible" by the AR-15, which was "engineered to deliver maximum carnage with extreme efficiency," reads the lawsuit; also named are Remington and Riverview Gun Sales, which sold Lanza's weapon. The suit faults the gunmakers for making such rifles available "to the civilian market" despite knowing that "individuals unfit to operate these weapons gain access to them."

Per the suit, Bushmaster's actions caused the plaintiffs "terror; ante-mortem pain and suffering; destruction of the ability to enjoy life’s activities; destruction of earning capacity, and death." The families of 13 victims had in recent weeks created estates for their children, a required step in filing suit, reports the Guardian, which notes not all of those families intended to sue. They are represented by the same lawyer who represented Michael Jackson's family against AEG Live. Despite calls for increased gun control in the wake of the Newtown tragedy, Reuters notes that school shootings remain largely unchecked, with 95 fatal and nonfatal incidents over the last two years. Meanwhile, Nicole Hockley, mother of Dylan Hockley and one of the parents who sued, has written a letter to the mother she used to be. (More Sandy Hook Elementary School stories.)