By On Tuesday, Catholic nuns initiated legal action against Smith & Wesson’s board. With this, they aim to compel the gun manufacturer to stop producing, promoting, and selling assault-style rifles. These claims arise out of the rifles’ link to numerous U.S. mass shootings.
In a Nevada state court filing, the nuns claim Smith & Wesson’s leaders exposed the company to legal risks. There are claims of the company deliberately breaking federal, state, and local laws. Moreover, they accuse the management of neglecting lawsuits related to mass shootings.
The nuns condemned rifles as tools that had the sole purpose of mass killings. Smith & Wesson, based in Nevada, didn’t reply to these accusations yet. AR-15s, tied to shocking mass shootings, were featured in a lawsuit’s opening image. They were depicting the tragedy at a Colorado cinema in 2012, where a Smith & Wesson rifle lay beside victims’ belongings.
The nuns, acting as shareholders of Smith & Wesson, initiated a derivative lawsuit. It aims to hold the board accountable for breaches of law.
Derivative lawsuits target boards for neglecting their shareholder duties. Now, if the nuns succeed, directors could be held responsible for costs linked to unlawful rifle promotion. However, any compensation would go to the company, not the suing nuns, if the court awarded damages for the illegal marketing of assault rifles.
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