After legal win, Sandy Hook parent wants her son "remembered as a beautiful 6-year-old boy who helped create change for others"
Nicole Hockley and the families of eight other Sandy Hook school shooting victims have spent the last seven years fighting a battle no one thought they would win.
On Tuesday, they agreed to a $73 million settlement of a lawsuit against gunmaker Remington.
The agreement requires Remington to release internal documents, showing how it marketed the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle used in the massacre.
"It's not going to stop gun manufacturers, it's not going to stop the sale of firearms, but it's going to ensure that at least they're done with responsibility, with accountability and with safety in mind," Hockley told CBS News' Nikki Battiste. Hockley's son Dylan would have been 15 years old this year. He was one of 20 first-graders and six educators murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
The fight against Remington Arms was a monumental undertaking in part because of a 2005 law that protects gun manufacturers from litigation.
Attorneys representing the families argued that Remington deliberately marketed the AR-15 to troubled young men through placement in violent video games and advertisements that had the phrases like: "Consider Your Man Card Reissued."
In this case, the lawyers for the Sandy Hook families worked around that federal law that protects gunmakers by arguing that Remington's marketing violated a specific Connecticut consumer law.
In a statement last night, President Biden called on Congress to repeal the 2005 federal law.
"I know the headlines today are going to be about the $73 million; that just really isn't on my radar," Hockley said. "It's more about the process of what we can do with what we discovered and how we can share with everyone else."
Hockley, like so many of the parents, said she wants her child to be remembered beyond the tragedy.
"I want him to be remembered as a beautiful 6-year-old boy who helped create change for others. I don't want people to ever forget his name, his gorgeous eyes, his smile...I want his voice to be part of creating that safer future," she said.
Remington went bankrupt in 2020 and has in the past denied allegations against the company. Remington did not respond to CBS News' requests for comments.
