Supreme Court agrees to hear ‘business-crushing’ gun case

The United States Supreme Court will hear the case on whether Mexico Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. could sue for facilitating sales to people linked to Mexican drug cartels.

On Friday, the justices agreed to hear Smith & Wesson’s case, which sought to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the Mexican government. Mexico has sued the gunmaker, demanding billions of dollars in damages and new gun control measures. It is the first lawsuit by a national government against the gun industry, and one that Smith & Wesson warn could completely decimate their industry.

In a letter to the Supreme Court’s clerk on Aug. 8, an attorney for Smith & Wesson Brands said the company is protected from a 2005 law that gives gun manufacturers protection from liability.

“Leading members of the U.S. firearms industry face years of legal costs and the specter of business-wrecking liability,” attorney Noel Francisco wrote.

Francisco’s letter also suggested that the company would be responsible for “billions of dollars in damages, plus far-reaching injunctive relief.”

Newsweek contacted Smith & Wesson for comment.

In the lawsuit, Mexico alleged that the manufacturers and distributors assisted in the purchase of their firearms by dealers known to supply the drug cartels. It is also alleged that the companies have not made changes, such as installing safeguards or making it more difficult to identify gun serial numbers, that would reduce the chance of criminal use of the weapons.

The complaint called the marketing of the products “inflammatory” and “reckless.”

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously said the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005 does not protect the companies. The court explained that the gun makers deliberately traded with suppliers for the cartels.

Smith & Wesson previously 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 was originally against a total of eight companies. The judge said six gun makers had no connection to Massachusetts before the case. In addition to Smith & Wesson, Interstate Arms is now also mentioned.

Lawyers for Mexico have asked the Supreme Court not to hear the case.

The new nine-month court term begins on Monday. A decision on this case should come in July.

In addition to the gunmaker case, the Supreme Court has upheld 12 other cases over disputes over reverse discrimination, DNA testing for a death row inmate, vaping and spent fuel storage.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.