SCOTUS takes on case involving Mexico’s lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers

The US Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear the case in which Mexico is suing a number of US arms manufacturers for allegedly giving weapons into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

Mexico claims the companies deliberately chose to “take advantage of the criminal market for their products” and allowed a flood of weapons to fall into the hands of Mexican cartels. And the Mexican government wants the companies to pay billions of dollars in damages.

In August, a federal judge in Boston dismissed several companies from the lawsuit, including Sturm, Ruger and Company, Glock, Barrett Firearms, Colt’s Manufacturing, Century International Arms and Beretta. Companies still involved in the lawsuit include gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson and wholesaler Whitmer Public Safety Group.

Of course, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) bars frivolous lawsuits against the firearms industry for damages caused by criminal and unlawful acts of external third parties. Consequently, a U.S. district court dismissed the case and found that the claims were dismissed by the PLCAA.

However, the 1^st The Circuit Court of Appeals revived Mexico’s appeal case, ruling that Mexico’s claims alleging that the defendants knew that their regular business practices contributed to the illegal firearms trade fit within a limited exception to the PLCAA.

The firearms industry’s response to the Supreme Court’s request to hear the case was unanimously positive. Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), called Friday’s announcement “welcome news.”

“Today’s announcement by the U.S. Supreme Court that they are granting Smith & Wesson’s petition to hear Mexico’s frivolous $10 billion lawsuit against legitimate U.S. firearms manufacturers is welcome news for the entire firearms industry,” Keane said in an NSSF news item. “Mexico’s lawsuit seeks to blame legal U.S. firearms companies for the violence in Mexico perpetrated by Mexican narco-terrorist drug cartels that is impacting innocent Mexican lives. It is not the fault of American firearms companies that follow strict laws and regulations to legally produce and sell legal products.”

As Keane further noted, such lawsuits are precisely the reason the PLCAA was passed in the first place.

“This case represents exactly why Congress passed and President George W. Bush enacted the bipartisan Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA),” he said. “The case was properly dismissed by a federal judge because of the First Circuit Court of Appeals’ erroneous ruling earlier this year reversing the district court’s order and reinstating the case.”

As Keane noted, companies that comply with the law should not be prosecuted by a foreign government for doing so.

“Legitimate American firearms manufacturers follow American laws to make and sell legal and constitutionally protected products,” he added. “The Mexican government should instead focus on bringing Mexican criminals to justice in Mexican courtrooms.”

In a brief brought to the Supreme Court by the National Rifle Association in May, the organization urged the court to take up the case, saying Mexico had destroyed its right to bear arms and is now doing the same trying to do in America.

“To this end, Mexico wants to financially destroy the U.S. firearms industry,” the NRA said. “Mexico is seeking billions of dollars in damages and the imposition of comprehensive gun controls in America, while relying on bad data and false accusations to exaggerate the impact of petitioners’ firearms on Mexican murders.”