Nuns sue Smith and Wesson over AR-15 rifle deaths
A coalition of four Catholic nuns’ congregations said in a lawsuit Tuesday that gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson has endangered shareholders by the way it makes, markets and sells its AR-15-style rifle.
The nuns, shareholders of Smith & Wesson, claim the gunmaker is exposing itself to liability by deliberately breaking laws in the production and sale of the rifles, which have been used in several high-profile mass shootings.
The lawsuit, filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nevada, alleges that Smith & Wesson “has relished record-breaking profits from AR-15 rifle sales, seemingly unfazed by the exponential rise in gun deaths . and mass shootings carried out with his product in the United States.”
The nuns are from Adrian Dominican Sisters in Adrian, Michigan; the Sisters of Bon Secours USA in Marriottsville, Maryland; the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia in Aston, Pennsylvania; and the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, USA Ontario Province in Marylhurst, Oregon.
Mark Smith, the CEO and president of Smith & Wesson, said in a statement that the nuns “were not interested in the interests of the company or its shareholders.”
He added: “This frivolous lawsuit is just another example in their long history of attempting to hijack and abuse the shareholder advocacy process to damage our reputation and our business.”
Earlier this year, the nuns supported a resolution to have Smith & Wesson conduct an assessment of the impact of its business practices on human rights, but a majority of shareholders voted against. in September.
The nuns’ action this week is a derivative lawsuit, a legal mechanism that allows shareholders to sue a company’s leaders for breaching their duties.
Jeffrey Norton, the nuns’ coalition’s lead attorney, said Thursday that his clients collectively owned more than 1,000 shares of Smith & Wesson stock.
Jennifer Wua clinical assistant professor of finance at the University at Buffalo School of Management, said 1,000 shares was a “very, very small” amount of Smith & Wesson’s 46 million shares outstanding.
“For this shareholder activism to actually work, this nun group needs support from other investment groups,” Professor Wu said.
In the lawsuit, the nuns asked Smith & Wesson to change its marketing to limit the appeal of guns to young men and people who would be inspired by militaristic images in the company’s advertising to use guns “against their perceived enemies.” .
“We call on Smith & Wesson to return to the practices of its first 153 years of existence, when it considered itself a successful beacon of responsible gun ownership and did not manufacture, market or sell military-grade mass-murdering assault weapons. ” said the nuns in a statement.
In recent years, groups seeking to combat gun violence in the United States have turned to new legal tactics to circumvent the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a federal law that protects gun companies from lawsuits that Congress enacted in 2005.
Survivors and families of victims of a shooting last July 4 in Highland Park, Illinois, have sued Smith & Wesson over its marketing. The shooting killed seven people and injured more than 30 people, ranging from children to older adults.
Smith & Wesson began making AR-15-style rifles in January 2006, two years after a federal ban on assault weapons expired, the nuns’ lawsuit said. The ban had banned specific semi-automatic weapons and military-style magazines that can hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.
AR-15-style Smith & Wesson rifles were used in several recent mass shootings, including by the gunman who killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, in October. After a two-day manhunt, the gunman was found dead with a Smith & Wesson pistol and an AR-15 style rifle. officials said.