Gunmaker, Store Agree To Payout in Sniper Case

Two survivors and the families of six slain victims of the 2002 sniper shootings have reached a $2.5 million settlement with the manufacturer of the Bushmaster rifle used during the attacks and the gun shop from which it had been stolen.  The victims' attorneys said yesterday that it was the first time a gunmaker has paid damages for crimes committed with its weapons. The manufacturer, Bushmaster Firearms Inc. of Windham, Maine, "paid damages for negligence leading to the criminal use of a gun," said the victims' co-counsel, Dennis Henigan. Bushmaster ridiculed the Brady center's "false claim of victory" in a news release. "The Brady Group brought this lawsuit not for the victims, but for their anti-gun agenda," Bushmaster said. "We did not agree and would not agree to change the way we do business. . . . We were emphatic that Bushmaster did not commit any wrong doings." [more ]