Then, in 2015, the family of a victim in the theater massacre in Aurora, Colo., lost a case against an ammunition dealer - and was ordered under state law to pay the dealer’s legal fees. In 2009, a case against a manufacturer associated with a series of sniper shootings in Washington, D.C., was thrown out. More than a decade ago, New York City failed in its bid to go after some gunmakers under public nuisance laws. For years, advocates of gun control have struggled to pierce a legal shield that protects firearms manufacturers from liability, even as gunmen in mass shootings have relied on their powerful wares to amplify the carnage of their attacks.
