I think they're anticipating the new wave of lawsuits that will be coming down the pike.....
Have any past lawsuits been successful? Possibly in Conn, but it would be overturned,IMHO. I made a lot of my retirement money in Philip Morris back when it was MO during all of those lawsuits. You could buy the stock, sell calls and wait for it to be called away or just draw the dividend. Course the gun companies don't pay divs like MO.