Nov 12, 2019

Supreme Court allows Sandy Hook lawsuit against gunmaker to move forward

Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will not block a state-level lawsuit against a gun manufacturer by the parents of the children who died during the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, reports USA Today.

Why it matters: Remington Arms was seeking to be protected from the lawsuit, which alleges that the company marketed its military-style rifles "for use in assaults against human beings," per USA Today.

The big picture: This case "tests the reach of a 2005 law passed by Congress to protect firearms manufacturers from being held liable for crimes committed by gun purchasers," per USA Today.

Meanwhile, gun control advocates hope this lawsuit will be the first of many targeting the firearms industry.

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White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that he doesn't believe there is "systemic racism" among law enforcement in the U.S., arguing that there are "a few bad apples" that are giving police a bad name.

Why it matters: The mass protests that have swept across the United States are not just a response to the death of George Floyd, but of the dozens of high-profile instances of unarmed black men dying at the hands of police officers over the years.

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What she's saying: "This is like Charlottesville all over again. He speaks and he makes it worse. There are times when you should just be quiet. And I wish that he would just be quiet."

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Black Americans' competing crises

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

For many black Americans, this moment feels like a crisis within a crisis within a crisis.

The big picture: It's not just George Floyd's killing by police. Or the deaths of EMT Breonna Taylor and jogger Ahmaud Arbery. Or the demeaning of birdwatcher Christian Cooper and journalist Omar Jimenez. Or the coronavirus pandemic's disproportionate harm to African Americans. It's that it's all happening at once.

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