The families of 9 of the 26 people killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting are filing a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the rifle used by the shooter. The families are claiming that Bushmaster Firearms International should not have made the Bushmaster AR-15 Rifle available to the public, as it was designed solely for military use.
The lawsuit was announced just days after the second anniversary of the shooting. In 2012, Adam Lanza killed his mother before driving to Sandy Hook Elementary, killing 20 children, six adults, and finally shooting himself.
The company has made no comment addressing the lawsuit. Plaintiffs of the case claim that "companies assume no responsibility for marketing and selling a product to the general population who are not trained to use it nor even understand the power of it."
This is a controversial topic and I'm not sure if there is a correct answer. First and foremost, I think we need to give medical/psychological assistance to the mentally ill who are so often pushed to their limits, and then we wonder why they commit these terrible acts of violence. Instead of ignoring the problem of mental illness, it needs to be addressed upfront. Second, should regulation of firearm production be in the hands of government or individual businesses? Do we allow the government to set regulations on economic goods for safety precautions, or do we give more freedom to the people and run on this idea of a laissez faire economy? In addition, the Second Amendment secures our right as citizens to bear arms. But there is no reason for any ordinary citizen to have access to a military style weapon.
With these questions and issues, there needs to be clear communication and a look at the pros/cons of each argument.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30484531
While I may agree that rifles like the one used in the shooting at Sandy Hook should have certain restrictions on who buys them, I don't think that the families are right in suing the company who is making them because they are not to blame.
ReplyDeleteIt was not the company that influenced the shooter to take the actions that he did. I understand some of the anger that the families may still hold onto but instead of taking that anger out on other people, they could try to prevent other cases like this from happening.
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