Several Sandy Hook families took their case today against gunmaker Remington Arms to Connecticut's highest court, arguing the company is responsible for the massacre in the Newtown elementary school.

The nation is watching the case closely because if the families succeed, and the state Supreme Court allows it to move forward, it could lead to a flood of lawsuits against gunmakers.

According to police, Adam Lanza used a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle in the attack five years ago, when he killed 26 children and teachers.

Nine of those children's families argued Bushmaster's parent company, Remington Arms, specifically marketed a military-style weapon to people who were likely to use it to kill.

"Remington may never have known Adam Lanza, but they had been courting him for years, and the courtship between Remington and Adam Lanza is at the heart of this case," said Josh Koskoff, an attorney for the Sandy Hook families.

Justice Richard Palmer asked James Vogts, an attorney for Remington, about what the legitimate use of an AR-15 should be.

"This kind of rifle is owned by millions of Americans all across the country for hunting, target shooting and home defense purposes," Vogts answered.

Vogts also argued that federal law shields gunmakers from most lawsuits.

"No matter how tragic, no matter how much we wish those children and their teachers were not lost, and their families had not suffered, the law needs to be applied dispassionately,"  Vogts said.

Ian Hockley's first-grader son, Dylan Hockley, was killed in the attack.

"They could not care less what happens to their guns once their cash is in the bank -- showing an utter disregard for the lives this weapon takes and the families it destroys," he said.

A lower court previously dismissed the families' case. The Supreme Court is deciding whether to reinstate it.

Hockley said the victims' families have "infinite patience" in their quest for justice.