Firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson is suing New Jersey for going on an ''unconstitutional fishing expedition'' to curtail gun rights with false advertising claims.
In a federal lawsuit, Smith & Wesson — known since the 1800s for its pistols and handguns but is also the maker of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns — claims New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has tried to stymie gun sales, and is going through company advertisements and marketing materials in an extra-legal attempt to restrict the right to bear arms, Courthouse News Service reported.
In October, Grewal filed administrative subpoenas seeking evidence of fraudulent advertising by Smith & Wesson.
''The Subpoena presents no legitimate inquiry into any purported fraud, and instead targets mere opinions and other protected statements allegedly made by Smith & Wesson,'' the company claims.
The gunmaker wants a court order blocking the subpoenas and declaring them unconstitutional.
Smith & Wesson also says the subpoenas are politically motivated, noting that Grewal has partnered with several anti-Second Amendment groups, like Do Not Stand Idly By, to look for new methods to restrict gun ownership.
''Smith & Wesson is a good corporate citizen that is a leader on gun safety initiatives in the industry,'' the lawsuit states. ''What the Attorney General seeks to do through his actions is impermissible as long as the guarantees of free speech and the right to bear arms remain in the Constitution.''
Smith & Wesson firearms have been used in several high-profile mass shootings over the last decade, including the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, in which a 19-year-old killed 17 students and faculty, and the mass shooting at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater during a 2012 showing of ''The Dark Knight Rises'' that killed 12 people.
In 2018, New Jersey’s Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy announced gun manufacturers would be listed in monthly reports showing the source for every ''crime gun'' recovered by police in the state. Gun manufacturers have called the ''Name and Shame'' program unreasonable and agenda-driven, CNS reported.
''The intentional overreach of the facially invalid Subpoena and punitive intent of the Attorney General’s 'name and shame' initiative makes no sense as an exercise of prosecutorial authority, but they make perfect sense when seen for what they really are — the latest chapter in efforts by anti-Second Amendment Activists, hostile to the private ownership of firearms, to impose, through coercion, a gun control agenda which they largely have been unable to impose through federal or state legislative process or through the courts,'' the 57-page complaint alleges, CNS reported.
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