Media Contact: Georgia Seltzer, (202) 822-8200 x104, gseltzer@vpc.org

And these people complain about “frivolous” lawsuits

Campaign Research Notes – January 20, 2026

Gunmakers FN Herstal and Sturm, Ruger are battling over the names of assault rifles produced by the two companies as detailed in a lawsuit filed in 2024 in North Carolina by the Belgian-based FN. In the suit, FN Herstal, S.A. et al v. Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc., FN asserts that Ruger’s SFAR assault rifle infringes on the trademark of FN’s SCAR assault rifle.

FN’s claim is that like FN’s SCAR, Ruger pronounces SFAR as a word – albeit one that doesn’t exactly roll right off the tongue. Ruger, however, denies that SFAR is ever pronounced as a word. According to Ruger, SFAR is “an abbreviation comprised of the individual letters S,F,A, and R, (pronounced separately and individually as S-F-A-R), which communicates the style of the firearm as a ‘Small Frame Autoloading Rifle.’” Adding, “Ruger admits that it does not use hyphens when promoting its SFAR firearm, which is an initialism (like CIA, FBI, BATFE – none of which use hyphens) and not an acronym.” It’s worth noting here that BATFE refers to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which actually uses ATF as its acronym. BATFE is the pro-gun acronym for the agency (which could be pronounced BAT FEE). But we digress. Taking the issue head on, the company adds, “Ruger denies that the SFAR mark is pronounced as ‘SFAR’ (not ‘S-F-A-R’).”

According to a 2016 National Rifle Association blog, FN’s SCAR stands for Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle – or SOFCAR for you literalists. But that wouldn’t allow for marketing efforts like this, as featured in FN’s complaint:

Confused yet? Well, not as easily confused as FN thinks gun owners can be. Looking out for the interests of its apparently easily misled potential buyers, FN states, “Persons familiar with FN’s well-known SCAR Mark and the business of FN and/or FN’s products are likely to be confused, mistaken and/or be deceived upon seeing Ruger’s Infringing SFAR Mark or variations thereof, or are likely to believe that Ruger’s business is endorsed by, sponsored by, or emanates from, or in some way is connected with FN or FN’s business or with FN’s SCAR Mark.”

And while FN and Ruger bicker over hyphens, pronunciation, and, as FN puts it, the SCAR Mark’s “great recognition and renown,” these military-bred weapons continue to be used for the exact purpose for which they were designed: to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time available as seen in October 2023, when a Ruger SFAR was used to kill 18 people and wound 13 more in a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine.

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The Violence Policy Center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.