The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Monday sent lawsuits back to state court that challenge Smith & Wesson’s marketing tactics for a gun used in a Fourth of July mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, that killed seven people and wounded 48 in 2022.
Judges Frank Easterbrook, David Hamilton and Joshua Kolar rejected the gun makers’ argument that the lawsuits belong in federal court because they deal with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ regulation of semi-automatic rifles, like Smith & Wesson’s M&P15 used in the shooting.
