N.J. asks judge to force gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson to hand over documents on how it markets firearms
BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 10 months ago
New Jersey is asking a judge to force Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. to hand over internal documents, the latest twist in an ongoing legal fight over how the gun manufacturer advertises to residents.
The state first demanded marketing information in October. The Massachusetts-based company sued soon after, arguing that it wasn’t obligated to provide anything.
The gun manufacturer “claims that it is above the law — that it can deceive consumers and potential consumers of its products without consequence,” the state attorney general’s office wrote in court documents filed Friday.
The state’s subpoena was lawful and a court should enforce it, a deputy attorney general wrote.
A spokesman for New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal declined comment. Smith & Wesson representatives did not respond to a request for comment, nor did they comment on their lawsuit earlier.The subpoena came after Grewal’s office asked outside lawyers to help investigate how gun companies promote their products.
Smith & Wesson said in its lawsuit that this all amounted to an “unconstitutional fishing expedition” designed to weaken the Second Amendment.
Grewal’s office pushed back, saying last week that state law allowed them to dig into anyone advertising within New Jersey.
The review was not about “the product Smith & Wesson sells, but the representations and omissions in its marketing and advertising,” state officials argued in court documents, and the investigation has shown that some ads “may misrepresent the impact owning a firearm has on personal safety.”
Some Smith & Wesson ads also promoted carrying concealed firearms without mentioning that New Jerseyans needed a permit to conceal carry, state officials wrote.
So get this. The state of New Jersey wants S&W to inform potential buyers that N.J. required a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Yes, you read that right.
Two things. First, to S&W, ignore them.
Second, to S&W, get out of the North. Leave there forever. Come South. You won’t be treated like that here. You should have learned that by now. There is no reason for you to stay where you are in a unionized state.
And if that court presses the issue, then inform all law enforcement agencies in N.J. that you will no longer be selling any of your products to them.
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On February 19, 2021 at 12:56 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
What on earth is Smith & Wesson still doing in New Jersey? If the state government is that hostile to the firm, its corporate leadership ought to seek more-favorable surroundings, i.e., in any one of the many Second Amendment-friendly states to be found in this country. Take your business and its good-paying jobs and all of that tax revenue someplace else. Why support – via your taxes and presence in the state – people and institutions that hate you and want you destroyed?
Moreover, why not go all-in and announce that your company will henceforth no longer do business with any entity of the N.J. state government?
Hit ’em hard in the wallet and pocketbook…. it’s the only language they understand.
On February 19, 2021 at 7:04 am, Matt said:
Read my mind. Not being in NJ I would ignore their courts. What are they going to do? Send in the Army or call up Starfleet? Second, tell NJ that you won’t sell your products to their enforcers. Sell them to the People, but not the cops. That sends a powerful message. Third get out of the People’s Republics like Mass.
On February 19, 2021 at 7:23 am, Arthur Sido said:
This is just another front in law-fare aimed at raising the cost of doing business for gun manufacturers in order to drive them our of the civilian firearms market. People focus on the “assault weapons” ban part of Biden’s recent statement but most people miss how dangerous it would be to remove liability protection for gun makes. If every shooting in a diverse neighborhood leads to “civil rights” lawyers being free to sue gun manufacturers, it won’t be long until it is simply too expensive for them to sell to civilians.
On February 19, 2021 at 7:41 am, Mark Matis said:
Do you doubt that the court will AGREE with New Jersey???
We are no longer under “Rule of Law”, and have not been for a LONG time now!!!
On February 19, 2021 at 9:27 am, Fred said:
Weapons of War!!! Oooh nooo, I think I’m having another episode of the vapors.
On February 19, 2021 at 1:07 pm, ExpatNJ said:
What the State of New Jersey is saying is that it has the authority to:
– force a private entity to provide legal advice
– without that entity being licensed to do so in that jurisdiction, and,
– absent any preexisting Attorney-Client relationship.
Next, NJ will demand any ‘ol person walk into an OR and perform brain surgery …
On February 19, 2021 at 4:21 pm, Allen said:
They are going with the “big tobacco” play. I’d imagine most of the marketing is to police departments.
On February 19, 2021 at 5:12 pm, John said:
Is it time for American firearms, ammunition and accessories manufactures to organize and as
a group refuse their services and product sales to any state that breaks the federal law that holds them exempt from fake judicial actions that attack them over their properly made and legally sold items?
Maybe that should also apply to the feds if they don’t give them just treatment.
I can see the US military buying its weapons and ammo from foreign sources when every
merchant ship at see is sunk as would happen at the start of any major war.
On February 19, 2021 at 9:26 pm, Sisu said:
Arthur Sido most likely has it “right” – it’s an attempt on “lawfare” as such is now a “tool” of the “civil war” America can no longer deny it is in the throes of.
FYI … Here’s a brief perspective on the evolution of the term “lawfare” –
https://www.lawfareblog.com/about-lawfare-brief-history-term-and-site
While not an attorney my read of the petition is it lacks substance – i) S&W does not operate directly in NJ (it has general marketing through media channels to pull sales through its distributors); ii) the petition lacks specificity as to what marketing materials and programs are relevant; iii) the petition alleges some “standard(s) to inform” that apparently do not exist; iv) …
The filing was in a State Court and follows an initial subpoena that S&W and its affiliates consciously ignored for currently unknown reasons (perhaps because NJ has no jurisdiction over the applicable entities; headquarters are in MA and legal entities are domiciled in DE, MO and OR).
Someone should emasculate Grewal by taking away his kirpan; he nothing but a damned egotistical, elitist hypocrite … Instead of promoting himself he should learn something of his self-professed religion. … Or maybe return to India and right some of the many wrongs there instead of trying to recreate India in the USA.
On February 20, 2021 at 2:48 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
Trad-Americans should not ignore the law and the justice system as theaters of the overall conflict which is being fought… the left sure hasn’t. Recognizing that we are fighting on basically hostile ground, we should still contest everything possible in that venue. The powers-that-be sometimes rule against their own, if for no other reason that to perpetuate the facade that American jurisprudence is blind. And one will run across that occasional judge who supports the USC and BOR….
On February 20, 2021 at 3:19 pm, SD Plissken said:
Is S&W still owned by a company from Englandstan?
Ahh…search says it was sold to a company in Arizona after the people spoke and rejected the “safety devices” features.
Beretta packed up and left the glorious people’s republic of Maryland for greener pastures in Tennessee.
You’ll need a S&W if you stop for gas in the unity zone of Memphis after dark.
Turnpike Jersey? No thanks and Springsteen is a commie RAT.
Look for things to completely collapse under Boris Yeltbiden and guns will be worth their weight in gold.
Ammo? Buy more now but don’t overpay.
On February 21, 2021 at 6:59 pm, Oysteria said:
When was the last time you saw a TV commercial, or heard a radio commercial advertising firearms? Yeah. Me neither. This is nothing like when they went after cigarette advertisers as some have tried to draw that parallel. Fred Flintstone used to smoke Winstons in ads during the show Dennis the Menace. There’s no Fred Flintstone kicked back after a hard day’s work at the quarry cleaning his guns at the dining room table. They’re not going after the kids. You’ll see ads for firearms only in certain magazines and they don’t run their ads in Vanity Fair or Cosmo. You have to buy the magazines in which you can reasonably expect to see a firearm ad. You can see their ads online and if you let Google be your life partner they’ll tailor those ads to your tastes, which means you’ve been actively seeking out such information. So if they think they can treat this like they treated the cigarette industry, it’s not going to work.