After its Facebook account was permanently suspended, popular American firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson thanked Elon Musk and X for supporting free speech amid what they called an ongoing attack against the First and Second Amendments.
In a letter Friday to X, Smith & Wesson announced it has been permanently suspended from Facebook after the platform flagged several of its posts for promoting the sale of firearms.
Founded in 1852 in Norwich, Connecticut, today Smith & Wesson is based in Maryville, Tennessee, and is one of the most popular gun brands in America, reporting sales of $535.8 million in fiscal year 2024.
Smith & Wesson said that “despite our best efforts and resources to try to comply with Facebook’s ever-changing community guidelines regarding firearms, our account was permanently suspended on Friday, November 22nd, 15 years after it was originally created.”
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FILE – In this Jan. 19, 2016, file photo, handguns are displayed at the Smith & Wesson booth at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas. The Mexican government sued US gun manufacturers and distributors, including big gun names like Smith & Wesson Brands, on Aug. 4, 2021, in the US federal court in Boston, arguing that their commercial actions have caused great bloodshed in Mexico. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
The manufacturer shared a screenshot of the suspension notice it received on Facebook where the platform said several posts dated Nov. 22, 13 and July 18 violated the laws of advertising weapons.
Facebook’s commercial policy prohibits the promotion of the purchase, sale and trade of weapons, ammunition and explosives. However, according to Facebook’s parent company Meta’s website, there are exceptions for legitimate brick-and-mortar and online retailers, although their content is still restricted to children.
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Smith & Wesson said that while it would work to restore its account, it encouraged its 1.6 million Facebook fans and followers to “seek out platforms” that represent “shared values” of free speech and the right to bear arms.
“In an era where free speech and the right to bear arms are under constant attack, we want to thank Elon Musk and X for supporting free speech and our constitutional rights guaranteed by the 1st and 2nd Amendments,” Smith & Wesson said.
US President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on November 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Tx. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
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Musk responded to the post with, “[we] believe in the Constitution.” He also pointed out that X has also allowed users to post a gun emoji after its site was replaced with a water gun by Twitter in 2018.
The National Association for Gun Rights, a Second Amendment group with more than 4.5 million activists, also lamented, saying, “Thank you for giving us shelter from this storm of corporations that hate the Constitution.”
In another post, the organization called X one of the last bastions of free speech and gun rights.
“It’s becoming clear that X is one of the biggest repositories of 2A and Firearms content on social media,” the group said, adding, “the noose is tightening everywhere, wanting to take us out completely.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Meta for comment but had not heard back at press time.
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