Sportsmen's Alliance Foundation files friend-of-court brief protecting firearms industry's First Amendment rights

6:00am Thursday, January 16, 2025

Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, in partnership with Safari Club International, filed a friend-of-the-court brief Jan. 14 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in support of the First Amendment rights of the firearms industry, according to a Jan. 15 news release from Sportsmen's Alliance.

The case, Lowy v. Daniel Defense, LLC, is the latest episode in a long saga of groups and individuals attacking firearms manufacturers by seeking damages for the criminal misuse of their lawful products, the release said. Decades ago, anti-firearms groups grew frustrated with legislatures that had refused to adopt their agendas, turning to the courts in hopes of better results. These cases subsided in 2005, after Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which largely forbids firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable for criminal misuse of their products.

In recent years, anti-gun groups have resurrected this scheme, pushing to circumvent the PLCAA, the release said. They argue that firearms industry advertisements are causing individuals to commit crimes.

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“This advertising theory has become their new favorite tool,” Michael Jean, litigation counsel at Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, said in the release. “But it’s legally problematic because the First Amendment protects lawful and non-misleading advertisements.”

Sportsmen’s Alliance recently secured a preliminary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of a California law that outlawed firearms advertisements that “may be attractive to minors,” the release said.

“The other problem with the theory is that it stands on the slickest of slippery slopes,” Jean continued. “We don’t hold car manufacturers that promote a vehicle’s performance liable for accidents because it’s commonsense that the driver is responsible for obeying the laws and driving safely.”

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The case involves social media posts — labeled as advertisements by the plaintiffs — from many firearms industry manufacturers that depict firearms, firearm accessories, recreational shooting, and hunting. These companies have been sued under the premise that their posts have incited or encouraged unlawful conduct. However, the posts simply portray legal and widely pursued hobbies to customers, followers, and those interested in participating.

“It’s critical that we fight for firearm producers, manufacturers and dealers, because without them, our hunting heritage is absolute toast,” Dr. Todd Adkins, senior vice president of Sportsmen’s Alliance, said in the release. “All the billions in Pittman-Robertson funding, all of our conservation successes, all the great Saturdays out hunting with family — that’s all gone. We have to stand and fight.”