American firearm manufacturing company Smith & Wesson has been sued by victims of the Highland Park July 4 mass shooting.
The families of seven victims who were killed during a mass shooting that took place on July 4 in Illinois have filed a lawsuit against Smith & Wesson on Tuesday, claiming the company marketed assault rifles in an allegedly insidious way in order to “appeal to the impulsive, risk-taking tendencies of civilian adolescent and post-adolescent males.”
The man accused of committing the crimes, – Robert Crimo III, has been charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder and three counts for each person he allegedly killed the day of the incident.
“The mass shooting at Highland Park’s Fourth of July Parade was the foreseeable and entirely preventable result of a chain of events initiated by Smith & Wesson,” the lawsuit reads, CNN reports.
It continued: “Instead of taking steps to stop or reduce the risk of this senseless slaughter, Smith & Wesson facilitates violence for profit,” the lawsuits claim. “It employs sales and marketing practices that create and feed a consumer base of young, civilian men who keep the money rolling in.”
