The Lawyer Trying to Hold Gunmakers Responsible for Mass Shootings

The New York Times Magazine

September 29, 2023

... Nevertheless, a Supreme Court ruling on PLCAA and the predicate exception probably won’t be forthcoming anytime soon, and Winkler says that Soto has perhaps created a “backchannel way to encourage gun makers to be more responsible.” Ryan Busse, while deeply alarmed by the direction of American gun culture, also believes Soto could make a difference. He says the case didn’t prompt gun manufacturers to alter their conduct because it never went to trial and was only settled, in their view, because the timorous insurers didn’t have the stomach for a fight. But he thinks that if even just one lawsuit inspired by the Sandy Hook litigation reaches a jury and results in a sizable judgment against a gun company, it would force the entire industry to at least dial back its advertising. “It might be $74 million, it might be $740 million,” Busse says. “One case would stop all of it.” And more cases are coming, says Antonio Romanucci, a trial lawyer based in Chicago. “These lawsuits are only the beginning,” he told me. “I strongly believe the gun industry should be doing a deep self-analysis before the courts do it for them.”