Liberal activists are planning to sue the board of a major US gun manufacturer, alleging that the company’s sale and promotion of AR-15 rifles violated its fiduciary duty and exposed shareholders to unnecessary liability.
This move is part of a broader trend of using the legal system to target gun manufacturers under the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) movement.
The plaintiffs, including anti-gun activist Sister Judy Byron, are calling for companies to review their operations and take action on public safety concerns related to gun violence. (Trending: Tucker Reveals The Moment He Became A Full-Blown Trump Supporter)
The lawsuit follows pressure on other gun manufacturers to develop safer guns.
Liberal activist shareholders allege that the board of Smith & Wesson “knowingly allowed the Company to become exposed to significant liability for intentionally violating federal, state, and local laws through its manufacturing, marketing, and sales of AR-15 style rifles and similar semiautomatic firearms.”
Sister Judy Byron, an anti-gun activist that helps wealthy activists use their money to influence social change in companies that need capital, is leading the plaintiffs.
Byron recently drafted a statement from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, where “investors representing $634 billion in assets” called for pressure on gun manufacturers and companies associated with them “to review their operations, supply chains and policies and take meaningful action on this public safety concern.”
“While we believe that sensible gun control legislation and enforcement is needed to help halt the wave of senseless gun tragedies, progress has been stalled at the federal level in large part due to an aggressive NRA lobby,” the statement said.
“Corporations, therefore, have an important role to play both to ensure that they are not indirectly complicit in these lethal events, and in advancing the solutions that may help prevent them,” continued the statement.
“While the business case for companies to reduce their exposure to this issue is clear, the moral case for action grows more urgent each day. We therefore ask companies to carefully reflect on how their operations, business relationships, supply chain policies, marketing practices and public voices might be used to counter gun violence and foster safer communities,” advised the group.
“When I say that I’ve always been interested in social justice, it isn’t just to know about it and be aware of it, but to bring about change and bring about justice,” said Byron.
“We’re looking to change the system,” she added.
The complaint argues that Smith & Wesson be held “liable for breaching their fiduciary duties by knowingly allowing Smith & Wesson to violate various federal, state, and local laws through its manufacturing, marketing, and sales of AR-15 Rifles.”
Despite previous rejections from stockholders, the activists are pushing for accountability and change within the system.
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