In a unanimous decision by Justice Elena #Kagan, #SCOTUS held that a lawsuit by the Mexican government was barred by #US #legislation that insulates #GunMakers from #liability. #Mexico, she wrote, had not plausibly argued that American #GunManufacturers had aided & abetted in unlawful #gun sales to Mexican #DrugTraffickers.

#law #GunControl #accountability

#SCOTUS appeared skeptical on Tuesday that the Mexican government could legally sue #US #GunManufacturers over claims that they share the blame for the horrific #GunViolence of the drug cartels.

#law #USpol #geopolitics #GunControl #GunTrafficking #Mexico
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/us/politics/supreme-court-mexico-argument-guns.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=1E522D13-CBE2-4F2E-87D0-A9A6869517F0

A unanimous panel of judges of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston, overturned that decision. They found that the lawsuit met the criteria for a part of the #law allowing for litigation in cases where knowing violations of #firearms laws are a direct cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.

#GunManufacturers asked #SCOTUS to hear the case, Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, No. 23-1141.

#SCOTUS #USpol #geopolitics #GunControl #GunTrafficking #Mexico

…#Mexico first sued multiple gun companies in 2021, arguing that the cartel bloodshed was “the foreseeable result of the defendants’ deliberate actions & business practices.”

A trial court judge dismissed the case, finding it was barred by a 2005 federal #law that limits litigation against #GunManufacturers & distributors & has provided immunity from actions brought by the families of people killed & injured by their weapons.

#SCOTUS #USpol #geopolitics #GunControl #GunTrafficking

“#Mexico has extinguished its constitutional arms right & now seeks to extinguish America’s. To that end, Mexico aims to destroy the American firearms industry financially,”the #NRA said in a brief supporting the #GunManufacturers. 🙄

The 6-3 #SCOTUS conservative supermajority has worked to expand gun rights. But at a time when #Trump has targeted the country, it has offered a forum for Mexico to publicize its counter case that US gun makers share the blame for cartel violence.

#law #GunControl

“It is far easier & far more efficient to stop the #crime gun pipeline at its source & to turn off the spigot,” said Jonathan Lowy, president of Global Action on #GunViolence & a longtime litigator against the gun industry who has worked on the case on behalf of #Mexico.

The #GunManufacturers, joined by a slew of gun groups including the #NRA, have argued the lawsuit would undermine gun rights in the #UnitedStates.

#law #SCOTUS #USpol #geopolitics #GunControl #GunTrafficking #GunEpidemic

Lawyers for #Mexico argue that US #GunManufacturers & gun dealers are complicit in what they call an “#IronRiver” of #firearms pouring into the country & arming #cartels. They point to strict controls on gun purchases in Mexico, where civilians are not allowed to purchase the types of rapid-fire, powerful military-style weapons favored by the cartels, as evidence that as many as half a million firearms are smuggled from the #UnitedStates into Mexico each year.

#law #SCOTUS #USpol #geopolitics

The case reverses longstanding complaints by #Trump that Mexican cartels have contributed to rising #violence in the #UnitedStates. Instead, #Mexico argues the majority of #guns found at Mexican #crime scenes come from the US. It seeks some $10 billion in damages from #US #GunManufacturers.

#law #SCOTUS #ClaudiaSheinbaum #GunControl #WeaponsTrafficking #GunTrafficking #GunEpidemic #GunViolence #USpol #geopolitics