(Newswire.net — July 30, 2015) — Sandy and Lonnie Phillips filed a lawsuit against online ammunition companies in connection with the 2012 Aurora, Colorado Theater shooting. A federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit and ordered the plaintiff to pay the $200,000 court expenses, MSNBC reported.
Since they didn’t have anywhere near that amount, the victim’s parents were forced to declare bankruptcy, according to an MSNBC report.
According to the plaintiff, National Rifle Association lawyers defended the online gun retailer Lucky Gunner.
“It is their money that is behind this lawsuit. They are making an example of Sandy and I. They don’t want anybody to file a lawsuit against firearm dealers of any kind,” said Lonnie Philips, Father of Jessica Ghawi, one of the 12 victims of James Holmes’ movie theater killing spree.
On July 20, 2012, shortly after the movie had begun, Holmes first set off tear gas grenades to induce panic, then opened fire from various weapons killing 12 and wounding 70 people.
The shooting sparked the sale of guns and a massive gun control debate, as firearm sales increased 43% compared to the week before the shooting. Parents of the 24-year-old victim Jessica Ghawi, who was shot six times, sued online ammunition companies in connection with selling weapons and ammunition to an insane customer. After the judge dismissed the case, he ruled all court expenses would be on the plaintiff’s account.
“The federal law made it possible for them to do this. Colorado law made it possible for them to charge us $203,000 for a lawsuit that never really even got to discovery,” Lonnie Philips said. “We didn’t have a chance to lose our lawsuit because it was dismissed.”
The Philips family emphasized the lawsuit wasn’t about gaining money, but was to raise awareness of a lack of security check in purchasing weapons and ammunition online.
“[Holmes] bought steel-jacketed ammo that went through the chairs of the theater, went through the walls of the theater and into the theater next door. [He] hit my daughter, who was hiding behind a seat…one bullet hit her in the head and created a five-inch hole…and blew her brains out,” Sandy Phillips told MSNBC.
Phillips raises the question, how come one is able to order 4,000 rounds of an armor piercing bullets, so called ‘cop killers,’ without even a security or background check.
“We need to have some regulations in place or this thing is going to continue to happen again and again and again,” Mrs. Phillips said.
Instead of raising awareness, she and her husband now face bankruptcy due to the astronomical court expenses they are forced to pay.