Gunmaker Has a Number for Sandy Hook Families

Gunmaker offers $33M in lawsuit, though it's far less than what families of shooting victims sought
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 29, 2021 8:40 AM CDT
Remington's Number for Sandy Hook Families: $33M
Ian Hockley, father of Dylan Hockley, one of the children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, addresses the media after a hearing before the state Supreme Court in Hartford, Conn., on Nov. 14, 2017.   (Cloe Poisson/The Courant via AP)

Remington has made an offer to the nine Sandy Hook families that are suing it. The settlement number the gunmaker has come up with, presented in Tuesday court documents: $33 million, subject to approval by the Alabama judge overseeing its bankruptcy case, per CNN. That means each family would receive just shy of $3.7 million, an amount the BBC notes is far short of what the loved ones of victims killed in the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Conn., had sought. The outlet reports that the families earlier this year made the case in court that wrongful death settlements could reach $225 million, and total punitive claims possibly more than $1 billion. A Remington rifle was used by gunman Adam Lanza in the 2012 shooting, which killed 20 young children and six adults. Lanza also killed his own mother before the school massacre, then himself afterward.

NPR notes the offer comes just a day after a judge rejected Remington's request to dismiss the case altogether. Even though the $33 million isn't what the Sandy Hook families had hoped for, Jonathan Lowy, chief counsel for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, tells the outlet that in similar "impact litigation" cases like this, the money being sought isn't meant to serve as a financial boost for victims' families, but to hit the defending company where it hurts. "While they realize that no amount of money can come close to compensating them ... they generally do understand that it's important to force gun companies that act irresponsibly, and their insurance companies, to internalize the harm that they cause," he says. "Without it, it's all profit to them and other people die." In a statement, attorneys for the Sandy Hook families say they'll "consider their next steps." (The families recently filed a complaint against Remington for sending thousands of cartoons.)

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