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After Mayah Zamora was shot and wounded at Robb Elementary School, her family did what many mass shooting survivors do: They sued.
On May 11, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a new law that further shields gun manufacturers from lawsuits, weeks after a shooter at a Nashville school killed six people. It comes as attorneys say the narrow path for victims to bring lawsuits has begun to widen, including for families in, who on Wednesday will mark the one year since the most deadly school shooting in Texas history.
“I think there are more opportunities for accountability than maybe there were five to 10 years ago,” said Eric Tirschwell, executive director for Everytown for Gun Safety, which for years has brought lawsuits against the gun industry and is also involved in theThe track record for lawsuits following mass shootings is mixed. The gun industry remains largely protected from liability under a federal law, known as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, though it does not completely exempt or immunize gun manufacturers from lawsuits. Over the last decade, courts have tossed numerous lawsuits, many of which did not target the gun industry but instead brought negligence claims against the government or the places where the attacks took place. In 2020, the casino company MGM Resorts International and its insurers agreed to an $800 million settlement over a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip that killed 58 people and injured hundreds more. Last year, the maker of the rifle used in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting settled with families for $73 million over a lawsuit that accused Remington of targeting younger, at-risk males in marketing. In Tennessee, the GOP sponsor of the state’s new law waved to what happened in Connecticut in defending the need to further shield the industry: “Few companies can survive a $73 million settlement,” state Rep. Monty Fritts said in February., victims have also accused Daniel Defense, the maker of the weapon used in the attack, of dangerous marketing. The company has denied that in court, and gun industry groups have broadly rejected the argument since the Sandy Hook settlement. “The commercial speech is still protected speech,” said Mark Oliva, managing director for public affairs at the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
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