The country's highest court has announced it will hear Smith & Wesson’s petition to dismiss a controversial lawsuit brought by the government of Mexico against the U.S. gun industry.
Estados Unidos Mexicanos v. Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., et al., is on the Supreme Court's docket and last Friday was granted review.
First filed in 2021, the $10 billion suit – supported by no less than a dozen anti-gun states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Illinois – sought to put some of the biggest names in the American gun industry including Barrett, Beretta, Century Arms, Colt, Glock, Ruger, and Smith & Wesson on the hook for the out-of-control narco cartel violence that has plagued Mexico since 2006.
A federal judge tossed the suit in October 2022, citing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act prevented the claim, but Mexico pushed the issue and appealed to the Massachusetts-based U.S. First Circuit Court, which kept the case alive and handed the issue to a lower court in Boston.
Then in August, a court agreed to let most of the defendants – except Massachusetts-based S&W – out of the suit, citing that none of the activities the Mexican government claimed happened in the Commonwealth.
Now, the Supremes have agreed to hear S&W's petition to dismiss the case.
The iconic gunmaker, which shifted its headquarters to more 2A-friendly Tennessee in 2023, is allied with 25 members of Congress, as well as a variety of industry and pro-gun groups that have filed supporting briefs with the court. They include the Second Amendment Foundation, the Firearms Policy Coalition, the NRA, the National Association for Gun Rights, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
"Today’s announcement by the U.S. Supreme Court that they are granting Smith & Wesson’s petition to hear Mexico’s frivolous $10 billion lawsuit against lawful American firearm manufacturers is welcomed news to the entire firearm industry, said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel on Friday. "Mexico’s lawsuit seeks to blame lawful American firearm businesses for violence in Mexico perpetrated by Mexican narco-terrorist drug cartels and impacting innocent Mexican lives. It is not the fault of American firearm businesses that follow strict laws and regulations to lawfully manufacture and sell legal products.
"This case represents exactly why Congress passed, and President George W. Bush enacted, the bipartisan Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). The case was rightly dismissed by a federal judge before the First Circuit Court of Appeals’ erroneous ruling earlier this year that reversed the district court order and reinstated the case. Lawful American firearm manufacturers follow American laws to make and sell lawful and Constitutionally-protected products. The Mexican government should instead focus on bringing Mexican criminals to justice in Mexican courtrooms," said Keane.
Banner image: Vintage Third Gen S&W 5906 (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
