Uvalde families sue Meta, video game creator and gunmaker

The families of the victims of the Uvalde school shooting in Texas have filed lawsuits against the manufacturer of the gun used in the attack, the creator of a video game, and Instagram parent company Meta. The lawsuits claim that these companies promoted dangerous weapons to young men, including the 18-year old gunman, and are responsible for grooming a generation of young people who live out violent video game fantasies in the real world. The lawsuits were filed in Texas and California against Activision, the developer of the military video game series “Call of Duty”; Daniel Defense, the gun manufacturer known for its high-end rifles; and Meta. The companies are accused of knowingly exposing the gunman to the gun he used at Uvalde and conditioning him to see it as the solution to his problems. The lawsuits also claim that Instagram, Activision, and Daniel Defense have been partnering in a scheme that preys upon insecure, adolescent boys. According to the lawsuits, the gunman had been playing Call of Duty, a war-based video game with a rifle similar to the one used in the shooting, since he was 15 years old. The lawsuit says the gunman was simultaneously the subject of aggressive marketing by Daniel Defense, which targeted the teen with ads on Instagram.