Survivors and victims’ families of the 2017 Sutherland Springs church shooting are hoping that a recent court ruling in a case arising from the 2015 Charleston church shooting will help them stay clear of the sovereign immunity hurdle in their lawsuit against the United States.

More than 75 Texas plaintiffs have sued the federal government for negligence in running the nation’s criminal background check system, alleging it enabled the Sutherland Springs shooter to purchase firearms illegally, killing 26 and wounding 20 churchgoers. Earlier in the litigation, they won a court ruling that said the government did not have sovereign immunity to dodge their claims. However, the government is pushing the court to grant permission to file an interlocutory appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

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