Smith & Wesson receives Supreme Court review over Mexico gun suit (1)

The US Supreme Court will consider dismissing a lawsuit against the Mexican government Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. and other gun makers who facilitate the sale of firearms to people associated with the country’s violent drug cartels.

In a case that could strengthen the industry’s protection against lawsuits, the justices said they would hear the company’s arguments that Mexico’s lawsuit in Massachusetts is time-barred under a 2005 law that gives gun makers a broad liability shield.

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act does not protect the companies, pointing to Mexico’s allegations that the gunmakers deliberately trade with suppliers for the cartels. The measure allows lawsuits against gun makers who knowingly violate firearms laws in a way that causes injury.

Smith & Wesson and other companies told the Supreme Court that the 1st Circuit’s decision “exposes much of the industry to liability because it does nothing more than make available legal and non-defective products that can be criminally misused downstream.”

The lawsuit originally named eight companies as defendants, but the judge recently said that six gun manufacturers have insufficient ties to Massachusetts to pursue the case against them there. Although Mexico can appeal that ruling, for now it means that Smith & Wesson and Wholesale will appeal Witmer Public Safety Group Inc. are the only remaining suspects.

Mexico has urged the Supreme Court to throw out the case, saying the lawsuit alleges the companies “intentionally chose unlawful affirmative conduct to take advantage of the criminal market for their products.”

The case, which the court will hear in July, is Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, 23-1141.

(Updates with excerpts from court records, beginning in fourth paragraph.)

To contact the reporter about this story:
Greg Stohr in Washington at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Elisabeth Wasserman at [email protected]

Steve Stroth

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