School shooting suit against gun-maker set for trial in 2018

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - A judge has set a 2018 trial date in the lawsuit against the maker of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.

The families of nine of the people killed in the December 2012 massacre and a teacher who survived the attack are suing Remington Arms, the parent company of Bushmaster Firearms.

The judge Tuesday set the trial date for April 3, 2018.

The judge last week ruled that a 2005 federal law protecting gun-makers from lawsuits does not prevent lawyers for the victims' families from arguing that the semi-automatic rifle is a military weapon and should not have been sold to civilians.

The Sandy Hook gunman killed 20 first graders and six educators with a Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle that his mother had bought legally.