The government of Mexico wanted to hold U.S. gun makers accountable for so-called gun violence in Mexico. Mexico ranks third in the world for deaths related to gun use; however, the country has strict gun laws and only one gun store that issues less than 50 gun permits a year.
The Mexican government the claim that around 70%-90% of the guns confiscated from crime scenes in Mexico are trafficked from the U.S.
Mexico first filed the case in Massachusetts federal court in 2021 against seven U.S. gun companies and a gun wholesaler, claiming that they marketed guns to appeal to drug cartels and used a three-tier distribution system that allowed for easy illegal gun purchasing.
William Sack of Second Amendment Foundation says this should never have been in the Supreme Court to begin with.
"The District Court originally got this case right and kicked it out, but it was the Second Circuit that said 'well, not so fast, maybe we're going to let this thing proceed.’ That really was the shocking thing that happened in this case, so really what the Supreme Court did was just kind of going back to sanity."
On Thursday, the ruling regarding the case was unanimous by Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama nominee.
Alan Gottlieb of Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) says this lawsuit was yet another attempt, this time by a foreign government, to financially drain American firearms manufacturers.
"It collided with the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which the CCRKBA was instrumental in helping get passed in 2005, during the second Bush administration. Congress wisely adopted the PLCAA to prevent this kind of junk legal action." Gottlieb says.
Mark Oliva of National Shooting Sports Foundation agrees. He calls the supreme court's decision a tremendous victory for the firearm industry and the rule of law.
"The law is the law. You cannot hold the firearm industry or firearm manufacturer responsible for the criminal misuse of a firearm in another country because there is no exception or linkage of what happens at the firearm manufacturer to the criminal misuse of that firearm. So, we are very pleased with this decision, and we are very encouraged by the Supreme Court upholding the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act," Oliva says.
