The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the Remington on Tuesday Nov. 12 2019. Families who lost loved ones in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School have been permitted to proceed with a lawsuit against, Remington, the gunmaker behind the rifle used in the shooting.

In November of 2017, family members of the Sandy Hook victims filed suit against Remington and accused the gunmaker of aggressively marketing and glorifying its products as a “weapon of war” to vulnerable young men.

This morning, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Remington Arms, one of the oldest gun manufacturers in the U.S. who was founded over 200 years ago.  Remington had asked the high court to hear its case after the Supreme Court in Connecticut approved a lawsuit holding the company accountable for the misuse of its product in a shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead in Newtown, Connecticut.

Tuesday’s decision sets a dangerous precedence allowing victims of gun violence to sue the manufacturer of the weapon used against you. This precedence can also easily carry over to other scenarios such as knife violence or even vehicular manslaughter. The is a very slippery slope.

This case could upend existing protections by Congress afforded to the firearms industry. This lawsuit challenges a 2005 federal law called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which shields firearms manufacturers from lawsuits such as the Sandy Hook case.

The NRA, Numerous Connecticut-based gun organizations, nine states, Second Amendment law professors, and 22 members of Congress have fully backed Remington, but to no avail.