FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, along with other Republican congressional members, filed an amicus brief in support of U.S. gun manufacturers, urging the Supreme Court "to uphold American sovereignty and the Second Amendment."

The case, Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, stems from a lawsuit filed in 2021 by the Mexican government, in which the government alleged U.S. gun manufacturers, like Smith & Wesson, Ruger and others, should be liable for gun violence carried out by cartels south of the border, because the companies were allegedly aware their firearms were being trafficked into the country.

"I am leading this amicus brief to uphold American sovereignty and our Second Amendment. The lawsuit filed by Mexico seeks to trample on our Constitution," Cruz told Fox News Digital. "I look forward to the Supreme Court ending this madness, putting an end to Mexico’s assault on our Second Amendment, and sending a clear message that American sovereignty will not be eroded by any country."

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Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Mike Braun, R-Ind.; Bill Cassidy, R-La.; John Cornyn, R-Texas; and Rick Scott, R-Fla., are just several Senate members joining Cruz in filing the brief. Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.; Clay Higgins, R-La.; Pete Sessions, R-Texas; and Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., have also joined Cruz's brief. 

"I joined Senator Cruz and my House GOP colleagues in this case because it was the right thing to do and the only choice to make," Issa said in a statement. "This lawsuit has unified our friends and allies almost as never before, including from the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, and now the Supreme Court will listen to our petitions to hear this case."

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"This is a landmark legal question and weighs whether to allow foreign governments to violate American sovereignty, bankrupt our firearms industry with lawfare, and undermine our Second Amendment rights. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to our constitutional freedoms. Our cause will prevail," Issa continued.

The filing slams the lawsuit as a whole, calling it "an attempt to co-opt the power of the federal judiciary to both circumvent the role of Congress and usurp the role of the Executive." The filing continues on to say that the suit disregards the "respective roles" assigned by the Constitution to the federal branches and thus proves to be "an affront" to American sovereignty. 

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The brief also says that the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment is "fundamental to our scheme of ordered liberty," quoting a separate Supreme Court case. Via the present lawsuit, the brief says Mexico is attempting to impose "massive costs and injunctive relief" against American gun manufacturers, something "no public body in the United States could do via legislation or regulation."

More than two dozen top Republican prosecutors had previously urged the Court to take up the case in May of this year. That amicus brief, filed by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen along with other GOP colleagues, urged the high court to hear the case in order to stop "a foreign sovereign’s use of American courts to effectively limit the rights of American citizens."

Mexico's lawsuit was initially dismissed by a Massachusetts federal judge, but Mexico successfully appealed its case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, with the support of California and other Democrat-led states.

The high court set oral arguments for the case for February. 

The popular American gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson says it is still being kept in the dark after its Facebook account was suddenly suspended last month.

Though the account has since been reinstated, a representative for the company told Fox News Digital that "despite multiple attempts to reach Facebook to discuss the matter, to date we have not had direct communications with any of their staff members."

The gun company, which is headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, said staff suddenly received a notification from Facebook on Nov. 22 stating that their official Smith & Wesson account had been "suspended indefinitely."

"No warnings of a page suspension were previously communicated by Facebook," said the representative.

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The representative said Facebook referenced five posts dating back to December 2023 that they "suggest did not follow their community guidelines."

"The posts in question included consumer promotional campaigns, charitable auctions, and product release announcements," the Smith & Wesson representative explained. "While Facebook’s policies are ever-changing, which creates a burden for users to comply with, we do not believe this content violated any of Facebook’s policies or community guidelines, and similar posts have been published in the past without issue."  

Facebook’s commerce policy prohibits the promotion of buying, selling and trading of weapons, ammunition and explosives. However, according to Facebook’s parent company Meta’s website, there is an exception for legitimate brick-and-mortar and online retailers, though their content is still restricted for minors.

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According to the representative, the page was reinstated on Nov. 27 after the gun manufacturer made a public statement about the incident on X.

In the post, which has 3.1 million views, Smith & Wesson criticized Facebook and thanked Elon Musk and X for supporting free speech amid what it called ongoing attacks against the First and Second Amendments. The company encouraged its 1.6 million Facebook followers and fans to "seek out platforms" that represent the "shared values" of free speech and the right to bear arms.

Despite the page eventually being reinstated, the representative told Fox News Digital that the company has still had no contact with Meta and "no rationale was given for the reinstatement beyond a comment on social media from a Facebook representative stating that the suspension had been ‘in error.’"

That same Meta staffer, Andy Stone, also directed Fox News Digital to the X post positing that Smith & Wesson’s suspension was an accident. In the post, Stone said "the page was suspended in error and we’ve now restored it. We apologize that this happened."

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Through it all, the Smith & Wesson representative said the manufacturer is "grateful to Elon Musk for having created a public square platform that respects the right for Americans to voice their opinions, ALL opinions, and not just those that coincide with one agenda or another – especially as it relates to our constitutional rights guaranteed under the 1st and 2nd Amendments."

The spokesperson said that since their account was suspended, they have become aware that many other social media users have been similarly silenced and de-platformed.

"While we were encouraged by the reinstatement of our account, we were similarly disappointed by the number of other users reacting to our statement on X that commented that they have had very similar experiences with their accounts being de-platformed without warning," said the representative. "While we obviously do not know the details of those instances, we encourage Meta to continue working towards a more inclusive platform which allows the freedom for respectful dialogue from all viewpoints, which is a hallmark of American society."

Founded in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1852, Smith & Wesson is one of the most recognized gun brands in America and reported $535.8 million in sales in the 2024 fiscal year.

After its Facebook account was suspended, the popular American gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson thanked Elon Musk and X for supporting free speech amid what it called ongoing attacks against the First and Second Amendments.

Andy Stone, a representative for Facebook's parent company, Meta, told Fox News Digital that the account had been suspended in error and that it has since been restored. 

In a Friday post on X, however, Smith & Wesson emphasized the importance of Musk's stance on free speech, criticizing Meta for suspending their account after the platform flagged several of its posts for promoting the sale of weapons.

Founded in 1852 in Norwich, Connecticut, today Smith & Wesson is based in Maryville, Tennessee, and is one of the most recognized gun brands in America, reporting $535.8 million in sales in the 2024 fiscal year.

Smith & Wesson said that "despite our extensive efforts and resources spent on trying to adhere to Facebook’s ever-changing community guidelines on firearms, our account was suspended indefinitely on Friday, November 22nd, 15 years after its original creation."

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The manufacturer shared a screenshot of the suspension notice it had received from Facebook in which the platform said several posts dated Nov. 22, 13 and July 18 violated the rules on promoting weapons.

Facebook’s commerce policy prohibits the promotion of buying, selling and trading of weapons, ammunition and explosives. However, according to Facebook’s parent company Meta’s website, there is an exception for legitimate brick-and-mortar and online retailers, though their content is still restricted for minors.

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Although its account has since been reinstated, Smith & Wesson encouraged its 1.6 million Facebook followers and fans to "seek out platforms" that represent the "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," said Smith & Wesson.

Musk responded to the post by saying, "[we] believe in the Constitution." He also pointed out that X had resumed allowing users to post the gun emoji after it was replaced by a water gun by Twitter in 2018. 

The National Association for Gun Rights, which is a Second Amendment advocacy group with over 4.5 million activists, also chimed in, saying, "Thank you for giving us a place to shelter in this storm of Constitution-hating companies."

In a separate post, the association called X one of the last holdouts for free speech and gun rights.

"It is becoming clear that X is one of the last major bastions of 2A and Firearms content on social media," said the group, adding, "the noose is slowly tightening everywhere else, seeking to squeeze us out entirely."

This article was edited to reflect new information from Meta about the Smith & Wesson account being suspended in error.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., wants to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and plans to put forward a measure that would do just that.

"The ATF is a disaster," Burlison, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told Fox News Digital on Thursday, adding that "for decades they've been a disaster agency" which has "been violating the… Second Amendment."

The congressman suggested that states should be allowed to handle matters themselves, without federal interference.

"There's very few ATF officials," he said, accusing the agency of "co-opting or commandeering [local] law enforcement to enforce laws" which state lawmakers did not pass.

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The legislator plans to introduce a proposal previously put forward in 2023 by then-Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. 

Burlison, a freshman who took office last year, was one of the Republicans who joined Gaetz's measure as a cosponsor.

GOP Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Mary Miller of Illinois, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Cory Mills of Florida, Mike Collins of Georgia, Barry Moore of Alabama, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Bob Good of Virginia also joined as cosponsors, according to congress.gov.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the ATF for comment on Friday.

"ATF provides enormous benefits to the American public through all of its efforts fighting violent crime every day," ATF spokesperson Kristina Mastropasqua said in an emailed statement.

Burlison also thinks the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be abolished.

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"The EPA is making one-size-fits-all rules for the entire United States" and is "being more harmful than… helpful," he said.