The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Mexico’s lawsuit against Smith & Wesson, which seeks to hold U.S. gun makers accountable for gun-related crime in Mexico.
In the lawsuit, Mexico accuses Smith & Wesson and other gun manufacturers of intentionally selling guns to dealers who sell products that are often later recovered at crime scenes in Mexico.
Seeking up to $10 billion in damages, the Mexican government accuses the companies of “aiding and abetting” infractions of U.S. law, which means they are not protected by the federal immunity shield called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCCA).
However, Justices appeared unconvinced that Mexico has sufficiently alleged that the defendants should be held responsible for specific dealers that sell firearms in bulk to “straw purchasers” whose end-goal is to traffic the guns across the border.
Even liberal Justices like Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared to question Mexico’s standing in the lawsuit and their reasoning against the PLCCA statute.
Lawyers for the defendants say the federal immunity law protects them from any liability that results from “criminal or unlawful misuse” of a firearm by a third party, according to court documents.
Mexico’s legal team is focusing on a narrow exception to the liability shield, which allows a lawsuit to go forward if a company has “knowingly violated” a gun law and if that violation was a cause of the harm alleged in a lawsuit.
Mexico’s lawsuit cannot meet those conditions, the companies say, as its arguments for liability rely on linking a long chain of independent third parties, including the gun dealers and traffickers, to the defendants.
Hannah Hill, Vice President of the National Foundation for Gun Rights, said this after reviewing oral arguments:
“The one thing that was clear from today’s oral arguments is that Mexico does not have a leg to stand on. Their arguments that gun manufacturers are to blame for the downstream actions of independent third parties is laughable, and that was made abundantly clear to the Justices. We are hopeful for a ruling that says just that.”
The Supreme Court has yet to make a ruling on the lawsuit.
Read more at NBC News.
