The Supreme Court decides whether Mexico can sue US weapons manufacturers

Posted on by Vaseline

Mexico claims that between 70% and 90% of the weapons recovered from crime scenes were smuggled into the country from the US.

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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether Mexico can try to hold U.S. gun makers liable for violence caused by Mexican drug cartels.

Mexico is seeking billions of dollars in damages and new gun control measures in the first lawsuit by a national government against the arms industry.

The issue before the Supreme Court is whether federal law protects gun manufacturers and dealers from liability when their products are used to commit crimes. Does this law block Mexico’s lawsuits against US companies?

A federal district court ruled yes in 2022, but the Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals still allowed the lawsuit to proceed.

In January, the appeals court said the law on the protection of lawful trade in arms only covers “lawful” acts. And Mexico “appropriately alleges that Defendants aided and abetted the knowingly unlawful downstream trade of their weapons into Mexico,” the three-judge panel wrote, noting that these allegations must still be proven in court.

Smith & Wesson and wholesaler Witmer Public Safety Group have asked the Supreme Court to review that decision.

Illustration: Graphic images show the avalanche of weapons from the US to Mexico

Mexico’s complaints against six other companies included in the lawsuit were dismissed by a Boston judge in August because the companies are not based in Massachusetts. Saylor also said Mexico had not shown that guns sold by those companies in Massachusetts were being illegally trafficked into Mexico.

Mexico says 70% to 90% of weapons recovered from crime scenes were smuggled into the country from the US

Related Hacked data reveals which American arms sellers are behind Mexican cartel violence

In Mexico it is more difficult to buy a gun than in the US

In Mexico, the rules surrounding gun purchases are very different from those in the US. People can legally buy one in just two stores across the country, and only after months of paperwork and registrations. This means that the majority of gun crimes are committed with smuggled American firearms.

Mexico says U.S. gunmakers know how this happens. Manufacturers continue to supply guns to certain dealers, and those dealers then sell them to “straw buyers,” who sell them in large quantities to cartels, the lawsuit says. Gunmakers also design military-style weapons that are particularly sought after by cartels and make it easy to remove the serial numbers, Mexico says.

Comparing gun manufacturers to Budweiser being held liable for beer sold to a minor

Lawyers for Smith & Wesson say Mexico is trying to use the U.S. legal system to bankrupt the U.S. firearms industry based on a “novel and far-fetched” legal claim.

Gun makers shouldn’t be responsible for what dealers do, they told the Supreme Court, just as Budweiser isn’t liable if a liquor store sells its beer to a minor.

“By treating such a passive inability to stop crimes as ‘aiding and abetting,’” they said in a filing, “Mexico threatens to criminalize the ordinary production and sale of firearms – as well as any other legal product that criminals can misuse.”

Contributions: Nick Penzenstadler

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