[1] Until 2020, it owned Smith & Wesson firearms, when American Outdoor Brands was spun out,[2] partly due a changing political climate.

[7] Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation announced in December 2014 that it was paying $130.5 million for Battenfeld Technologies, a Columbia, Missouri-based designer and distributor of hunting and shooting accessories.

[8] The company made the acquisition with the eventual intent to merge all its existing Smith & Wesson, M&P and Thompson Center Arms accessories into a single division.

[12] The company had diversified from firearms into sporting goods and outdoor gear, the rugged outdoors business being a larger market than firearms, in hopes of insulating Smith & Wesson from the stock price volatility caused by the unpredictability of the gun business.

[15] The change occurred at a time when the firearms industry was receiving backlash over gun violence in America, and so was also seen as an attempt to disassociate itself from the negative repercussions surrounding the issue.