In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Second Amendment by dismissing Mexico’s $10 billion lawsuit against American gun manufacturers, reinforcing the protections of the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).
The Mexican government claimed that U.S. gun makers, including Smith & Wesson, were responsible for cartel violence due to illegal firearm trafficking across the border.
The Court, in an opinion penned by Justice Elena Kagan, ruled:
“The Government of Mexico brought this lawsuit against seven American gun manufacturers. As required by a federal statute, Mexico seeks to show (among other things) that the defendant companies participated in the unlawful sale or marketing of firearms. More specifically, Mexico alleges that the companies aided and abetted unlawful sales routing guns to Mexican drug cartels. The question presented is whether Mexico’s complaint plausibly pleads that conduct. We conclude it does not.“
This landmark ruling is a victory for the firearms industry and the millions of Americans who exercise their Constitutional right to bear arms.
The PLCAA was designed to prevent exactly this kind of overreach, and the Court’s decision ensures its continued strength.
Mexico’s lawsuit argued that gun manufacturers deliberately facilitated illegal sales by supplying dealers who sold to traffickers, but the Court found these claims lacked specificity and failed to meet the legal threshold for an exception to PLCAA protections.
The ruling underscores that manufacturers, who sell to distributors and not directly to dealers, cannot be held accountable for the actions of third parties, such as criminals or rogue dealers.
The Court acknowledged that some U.S.-made firearms are trafficked to Mexico but stressed that Mexico could not prove manufacturers intentionally facilitated these illegal transactions. This clarity protects the firearms industry from being unfairly targeted for the actions of cartels or other criminals.
The National Association for Gun Rights celebrated the ruling as a defense of the rule of law and the Second Amendment.
The Court’s rejection of Mexico’s claims prevents foreign governments from undermining U.S. Constitutional protections through litigation.
The ruling does not preclude future lawsuits under PLCAA’s narrow exceptions, such as cases involving direct violations of law, but it sets a high bar for such claims. This victory ensures that the firearms industry can continue to provide legal, Constitutionally protected products without fear of baseless legal attacks, preserving the rights of American gun owners.
Read more at NBC News.
