Supreme Court Will Decide Fate of Mexico's Lawsuit Against U.S. Gunmakers

By Cam Edwards | 11:40 AM | October 04, 2024

We're still a few weeks away from learning what the Supreme Court will do with the challenge to Maryland's ban on so-called assault weapons, but the Court has accepted another case that could have major implications for our right to keep and bear arms. On Friday, SCOTUS granted cert to Smith & Wesson Brands, et al. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, accepting a request by gunmakers to decide whether Mexico's $10 billion lawsuit against multiple gun makers can proceed or if it should be tossed out of court based on the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

The Mexican government (with the help of gun control veteran Jonathan Lowy) sued Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Century International Arms, Colt, Glock, and Interstate Arms alleging that the companies are aiding and abetting drug cartels in Mexico by manufacturing and selling guns like AR-15s, magazines that can hold more than ten rounds, and for refusing to adopt standards that go far beyond what U.S. law already requires for the production and sale of their products.

A U.S. District Court judge originally dismissed the case, but the First Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the lawsuit earlier this year, ruling that Mexico’s lawsuit qualified for an exception to Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act that authorizes suits alleging knowing violations of firearms laws that proximately cause a plaintiff’s injuries. As the gunmakers informed SCOTUS in their cert petition:

To fit within that exception, the First Circuit held that Mexico plausibly alleged America’s firearms companies have violated the federal law against aiding and abetting firearms trafficking—and that their regular business practices are the proximate cause of the many diffuse harms and costs that Mexico incurs from cartel violence.

In August, U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor once again threw out the case against six of the seven gun makers sued by the Mexican government, ruling that the plaintiff has been "unable to muster sufficient proof to establish a sufficient relationship between the claimed injuries and the business transactions of any of the six defendants in Massachusetts." Though Mexico's government has appealed Saylor's decision to the First Circuit, the Supreme Court's decision to grant cert to the case could put an end to the lawsuit once and for all.

More:
https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2024/10/04/supreme-court-will-decide-fate-of-mexicos-lawsuit-against-us-gunmakers-n1226460