Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, based in Aston, are part of a coalition of four Catholic nun congregations that is suing Smith & Wesson for putting shareholders at risk in the way it is making, marketing, and selling the AR-15-style rifles, writes Amanda Holpuch for The New York Times.

The nuns, who own Smith & Wesson shares, argued in a lawsuit filed last week that the gun maker is opening itself up to liability by violating laws over its production and sale of the controversial rifles that have been used in several mass shootings.

The lawsuit states that Smith & Wesson “has enjoyed with abandon the record-breaking profits from its sale of AR-15 rifles, seemingly unfazed by the exponential rise in gun deaths and mass shootings carried out with its product in the United States.”

“We call on Smith & Wesson to return to the practices of its first 153 years of existence when it held itself as a successful beacon of responsible gun ownership …” the nuns stated.

Smith & Wesson chief executive and president Mark Smith called the suit frivolous and said the nuns were “not interested in the best interests of the company or its stockholders.”

Read more about the nuns suing Smith & Wesson in The New York Times.