Can US arms manufacturer be held liable for cartel crime?

DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATIONThe Supreme Court will hear a case to decide whether Mexico can charge U.S. gun manufacturers and distributors for crimes committed by drug cartels with their firearms, according to court documents released Friday.

The Supreme Court will decide whether gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson and firearms distributor Interstate Arms are shielded from liability for crimes committed by cartels in Mexico with firearms they made or distributed under the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which protects gun manufacturers from arms trafficking. lawsuits over crimes committed with their products, court documents show.

The lawsuit was initially dismissed in 2022, with Massachusetts District Judge F. Dennis Saylor saying Mexico lacked standing and that federal law specifically protects the defendants from Mexico’s claims of civil liability for crimes committed with their products.

However, the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the 2022 decision, saying the law does not extend to Mexico’s specific claims against Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms. The lawsuit was again dismissed by Saylor in August, with S&W filing a petition for certiorari on April 18.

“In Mexico’s eyes, continuing these legal practices amounts to aiding the cartels,” S&W said in the petition. “According to Mexico, U.S. firearms companies are liable because they have refused to implement policies to curtail the supply of firearms smuggled south – such as making only ‘sporting rifles’ or selling booths to people with a ‘legitimate need’ to a firearm.”

Mexico argued in the first lawsuit that according to the court, 342,000 to 597,000 guns, made in part by Smith & Wesson, are trafficked across the border to Mexico every year. Mexico also claimed that the 1994 assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004, led to an increase in the number of weapons produced and trafficked into Mexico.

Smith & Wesson wrote in the petition:

The complaint alleges exactly how firearms are made by defendants, sold to wholesalers, then sold to retailers, then purchased by straw buyers, then brought across the border by smugglers, and then used in criminal acts by cartels in Mexico, resulting in damage to the victims. ultimately imposing costs on the Mexican government. The question is simply whether these facts amount to aid and encouragement and satisfy a proximate cause.

Smith & Wesson did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. Interstate Arms could not be reached for comment.

Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation