A federal judge wisely tossed the case due to the industry’s liability shield. The district court ruled that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) protects gun manufacturers from such frivolous actions.
The case should have ended there, but it did not.
The Boston-based First Circuit Court of Appeals revived the Mexican lawsuit attempting to blame legal U.S. businesses for the country’s horrific crime issues. And now the gun manufacturers asked the Supreme Court to hear their challenge to the action.
Eight industry leaders filed the petition to the high court arguing that the First Circuit erred in bringing the case back to life.
The filing argues that the complaint against the weapons industry is woefully short of evidence. There is no collusion between the companies and Mexican drug cartels, and the industry operates in much the same fashion as it has for decades.
Industry attorneys wrote that “Mexico’s suit has no business in an American court.”
They asserted that if the Supreme Court does not step in, a constitutionally protected business would be under the thumb of a “foreign sovereign that is trying to bully the industry into adopting a host of gun control measures that have been repeatedly rejected by American voters.”
The suit attempts to charge the defendants with normal business practices protected by the Second Amendment. It blames the manufacture of semi-automatic rifles and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds for cartel violence sweeping the nation.
According to the Mexican government, companies such as Smith & Wesson are working in conjunction with murderous drug organizations.
It argues that the gun industry should tailor its business model around the demands of foreign politicians and laws. Examples are limiting production to hunting rifles or only selling their products to individuals who show a need for a firearm.
How that is determined is anybody’s guess.
In the 2021 filing, Mexico claimed that companies created and distributed products that they knew would be used by violent drug cartels to commit murders, kidnappings and extortions.
The Supreme Court or any U.S. court that adheres to the Constitution and federal law should quickly toss this egregious action by Mexico. PLCAA is clear in its intent, which is to shield weapons manufacturers from liability by those who misuse its products.
It was passed two decades ago at a time when anti-gun state and local governments attempted to sue the industry out of business. Lawmakers understood that to permit such practices to continue would be tantamount to allowing firearms manufacturers to be litigated into extinction.
Which, of course, was the goal of the gun control lobby.
Now Mexico wants to do the same, and undoubtedly there are many in the U.S. who want it to succeed. The First Circuit gave their dream new life when it ruled that the lawsuit somehow squeezed into an exception where the industry knowingly breaks the law.
But the principles against the Mexican filing are long established in U.S. courts. If such wasteful actions are not permitted by American states and cities, how is it possible that this particular suit from a foreign power is allowed to proceed?
Further, the First Circuit expressed agreement with the Mexican government’s assertion that the U.S. gun industry aided and abetted cartels and their criminal activities. This is a bold assertion to make given the clear lack of evidence of such an action or policy.
The high court would do well to hear the case and end this flimsy legal action for good.
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