Drug war in Mexico: US gun makers face $10 billion lawsuit

WASHINGTON –

The Supreme Court said Friday it will decide whether to block a $10 billion lawsuit brought by Mexico against leading U.S. arms makers over allegations that their business practices have caused widespread bloodshed there.

The gun manufacturers asked the justices to overturn an appeals court ruling that allowed the lawsuit to proceed despite broad legal protections for the firearms industry.

A federal judge has since dismissed most of the lawsuit on other legal grounds, but Mexico could appeal the dismissal. Mexico claims the companies knew weapons were being sold to traffickers who smuggled them into Mexico and decided to make money in that market. The government estimates that 70 percent of weapons smuggled into Mexico come from the United States.

Suspects include major manufacturers such as Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Colt and Glock. They say Mexico has not shown that the industry has deliberately done anything to enable cartels’ use of the weapons and is trying to “bully” gun makers into adopting gun control measures.

The lawsuit, originally filed in 2021, was initially dismissed by a district court that cited legal protections for gun manufacturers from harm resulting from criminal use of firearms.

But the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals revived the case under an exception to that law. The gunmakers appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, arguing that they followed legal practices and that the case has no business in U.S. courts.

U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor in Boston in August again dismissed the case against six of the eight companies, ruling that Mexico had not provided concrete evidence that those companies’ activities in Massachusetts were linked to any suffering caused in Mexico by weapons was caused.

Still, with some claims remaining and an appeal possible, the gunmakers argue that the 1st Circuit’s ruling could hang over the industry for years if it were to remain in effect.