Inside the making of a right-wing conspiracy theory

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( February 15, 2022 More than nine years after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, families of the victims have achieved something of a victory against gun manufacturers. The families of nine victims reached a [$73 million settlement]( against Remington, the manufacturer of the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle used in the shooting, which killed 20 children and six adults. The suit was concerned with how Remington marketed the weapon; the families said that Remington's ads targeted troubled young men like the Sandy Hook shooter, although the plaintiffs never produced evidence that the shooter had been influenced by or even seen those ads. The case never went to trial, and the settlement is not an admission of guilt. But it does expose the financial stress that mass shootings can impose on gun manufacturers. As we [reported in 2016](, Remington's profits increased dramatically in the year following Sandy Hook, possibly due to "panic-buying" among people who feared upcoming government regulation. (Not that that wound up happening.) But that brief uptick in profits did little to soothe Remington's financial woes, which date back [decades](. It filed for bankruptcy twice, in 2018 and 2020, and the $73 million will be paid by four of the company's insurers. As part of the settlement, Remington also agreed to release thousands of pages of internal documents, which could include its plans for how to market the Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle. Needless to say, the gun industry [isn't happy](. —Abigail Weinberg Advertisement [Oxford University Press]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Is John Durham Deliberately Stoking Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories?]( His latest filing is fueling Trumpian disinformation. BY DAVID CORN [Trending] [Did American lobbyists help Vladimir Putin get a win in Congress? You'll never know.]( BY DAN FRIEDMAN [Enes Freedom really needs some better friends]( BY DAN SPINELLI [Ted Cruz's old boss wants to keep him from stealing the next election]( BY PEMA LEVY [Study finds Arctic plants are thriving. That could be a problem.]( BY PHOEBE WESTON Advertisement [Oxford University Press]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [These Doctors’ Groups Are Cheering On the Anti-Vax Truckers]( Might there be something in it for them? BY KIERA BUTLER [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755