Smith & Wesson, Other Gunmakers Must Face Indiana City’s Suit

Smith & Wesson Corp. and eight other major gunmakers must face claims alleging they should be held liable for illegal handgun sales and gun violence in Gary, Indiana, a state appeals court held May 23.

Neither an Indiana statute protecting gunmakers from suit nor its federal counterpart bars the city’s suit, which alleges public nuisance and negligent marketing and distribution claims against the companies, the Indiana Court of Appeals said.

The appeals court, in reinstating the city’s suit, cited in support a recent Connecticut Supreme Court case that allowed victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting to proceed with consumer ...