The New Jersey attorney general has filed a request with a state court seeking to force Smith & Wesson to hand over internal documents related to the advertising and marketing of firearms.
The move is only the latest in an anti-gun push by government bureaucrats to shut down firearms manufacturers over alleged false advertising.
“The preliminary investigation suggests that certain of Smith & Wesson’s firearms advertisements and marketing available to New Jersey consumers may misrepresent the impact owning a firearm has on personal safety and/or safety in the home,” attorneys for the state say in the request.
“In addition, certain of Smith & Wesson’s advertisements to New Jersey consumers depict and market the concealed carry of firearms while omitting the material fact that, in New Jersey, concealed carry of a firearm requires a permit.”
SEE ALSO: BREAKING: Connecticut Supreme Court Allows Sandy Hook Lawsuit against Remington to Move Forward
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal subpoenaed Smith & Wesson for the documents back in October, but the gun manufacturer sent a letter to the state in December saying they were refusing to hand over the documents. Smith & Wesson then countersued in federal court saying that New Jersey’s subpoena violates its first amendment rights.
“The New Jersey Attorney General has taken a series of actions to suppress Smith & Wesson’s speech, and with the intention of damaging Smith & Wesson both financially and reputationally,” the company says in its suit.
The Subpoena presents no legitimate inquiry into any purported fraud, and instead targets mere opinions and other protected statements allegedly made by Smith & Wesson, such as (1) whether Smith & Wesson’s products are “safe,” make a home safer, or enhance one’s lifestyle; (2) whether an untrained consumer could successfully and effectively use a Smith & Wesson firearm for personal or home defense; and (3) whether private citizens should have the right to carry a concealed firearm.
SEE ALSO: Canadian Judge Rules Smith & Wesson May Be Liable for 2018 Shooting
In its conclusion, Smith & Wesson accuses the attorney general of launching a campaign to “silence, intimidate, and deter” the company and its customers from “exercising their constitutional rights.” Grewal’s actions violate numerous provisions of the U.S. Constitution, including the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments, according to the company.
It wouldn’t be the first attempt to go after gun makers for their advertising practices. In 2019, the Connecticut Supreme Court allowed a case to move forward against Remington for the company’s “truly unethical and irresponsible marketing practices promoting criminal conduct.” The case was brought by families of the Sandy Hook massacre and is still ongoing.
NJ dem politicians are enemies of the Republic, of the people ignore them and exercise your rights.
Someone once told me that incest was legal in New Jersey and believing that it was illegal everywhere in the world, I did an internet search and sure enough incest IS legal in New Jersey. For the purpose of this post I just did another search for “Is incest legal in New Jersey” and sure enough in the United States incest IS legal in New Jersey and ONLY New Jersey. Check it out if you don’t believe me. I have not done an internet search of whether or not New Jersey is the only place in the entire world where incest is legal, but it might be. My point? My understanding is that incest is virtually illegal everywhere because incest has a tendency to produce children with at the very least mental disorders. Now I’m in no way trying to suggest that people that are the products of incest all have mental disorders that might also make them anti-2nd Amendment, but I’m not trying not to either. In the United States incest is ONLY legal in New Jersey, check it out for yourself, and New Jersey does appear to be anti-2nd Amendment. I’m merely making observations. What others do with my observations is entirely up to them.
I do not recall seeing any adds on TV what’s the big deal
I’ve never seen in auto advertisements that you need a driver’s license for the car.
Advertising is nothing more than an attempt to persuade people to buy goods or services. It’s not mind control, they can’t make you buy anything.
S&W also didn’t tell people that buying their product would help them get an erection, re-grow their hair or get help anybody lose weight.
If the suit against S&W is successful then drinking Corona beer should help find a beach filled with happy bikini clad women. Uber Eats will make food instantly appear at my kitchen table. Feeding my kids macaroni and cheese will make them immediately shut up and turn them into angels. And let’s not forget that there are bagpipers hiding under your kitchen sink.
Either the State of NJ’s AG can’t separate fact from fiction or this is government sponsored harassment.
The NJ AG is facing a US Supreme Court case to overturn NJ’s mass denial of all CCW permits. So he’s just clutching at straws to keep from going down in defeat.
So does that mean residents can sue NJ politicians for their unfulfilled promises?
This feels familiar. This is pretty much the same way they took after big tobacco in the mid-to-late 90s.
So who is the Joe Camel of the firearm industry? My guess is the late R. Lee Ermey.
Actually, “Eddie the Eagle” was called “Joe Camel with a rifle.” Fast forward and now the antis pretend to have cared about gun safety programs. Go figure.