Smith & Wesson faces Supreme Court review over gun suit in Mexico

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider dismissing a Mexican government lawsuit challenging Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. and other gun manufacturers are accused of facilitating the sale of firearms to people linked to 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 this ruling, for now it means that Smith & Wesson and wholesaler Witmer Public Safety Group Inc. are the only remaining defendants.

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.

Top photo: Trade show visitors look at weapons on display at the Smith & Wesson booth at the Latin American Aerospace & Defense (LAAD) conference and exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday, April 13, 2023. The expo brings together manufacturers and suppliers of technology for the armed forces, police, special forces, as well as private defense industry executives and government agencies. Photographer: Maria Magdalena Arrellaga/Bloomberg.