The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in favor of a lawsuit on Thursday that argued the AR-15-style gun used in the Sandy Hook massacre was deliberately marketed towards young men, using slogans such as “consider your man card reissued.” The ruling is a major victory for gun violence prevention groups, as it clears the way for a lawsuit to move forward against the companies that manufactured and sold the semi-automatic rifle used by 20-year-old Adam Lanza at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Lanza killed 26 people, including 20 first graders, in a spray of gunfire. Now, a lawsuit brought by victims’ relatives against Remington Outdoor Co. can to go to trial, potentially forcing gun companies to turn over internal communications that they have fought to keep private. Gun-control advocates suspect these internal communications will reveal how the industry operates.

Victims’ relatives argued that the gun companies bore some responsibility for the horrific attack. They faced long odds and the vast protections in federal law that block gun companies from lawsuits when their products are used to commit a crime.