Canada's Top Court Lets Stand Class-Action Claim Against Firearm Manufacturer After 2018 Toronto Attack

Survivors of the deadly 2018 Danforth Avenue shooting may continue their collective legal action against the company that produced the weapon used in the rampage, after the Supreme Court refused to intervene.

Canada's Top Court Lets Stand Class-Action Claim Against Firearm Manufacturer After 2018 Toronto Attack

The nation's highest judicial authority has declined to step into a matter involving survivors of a deadly 2018 mass casualty incident in Toronto's Greektown neighborhood, clearing the path for a collective legal challenge against an American firearm producer.

In the summer of 2018, an assailant opened fire along Danforth Avenue, killing two young people and wounding thirteen others. The attacker employed a stolen semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Smith & Wesson, then died by suicide at the scene.

Those who lived through the violence, together with relatives of the deceased, filed suit against the manufacturer. Their central argument holds that available safety mechanisms—technology capable of blocking unauthorized users from firing stolen weapons—were never implemented. A lower court had initially blocked the case from proceeding as a class action.

That obstruction was removed when Ontario's Court of Appeal reversed the earlier ruling, giving the green light for the litigation to advance. The firearm company then petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the matter. That petition has now been denied, as detailed by paNOW.

With the appeal avenue exhausted, the case returns to the provincial court system for further proceedings.

Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)