Mexican Lawsuit Against US Gunmakers Dismissed

One of the biggest potential attacks on firearms manufacturers has been booted out of US federal court. A $10B USD lawsuit against American firearms manufacturers was dismissed on September 30 when the judge presiding over the case said US law did not allow it to proceed.

It's great news for the firearms industry, particularly in North America, where some of the continent's oldest and most respected gunmakers would have potentially been ruined if they'd lost and been forced to pay out.

Some background: Back in August of 2021, the Mexican government sued several US-based firearms manufacturers, claiming these manufacturers were responsible for Mexico's epidemic of gun violence. Mexico's leaders claimed Ruger, Glock, Colt, Barrett, Smith & Wesson and other gunmakers were involved with business practices that resulted in crime in Mexico. The lawsuit said these companies specifically marketed firearms to criminals, unlawfully trafficking weapons to cartels.

While such a lawsuit may seem to have little chance of success due to protections for gunmakers in the US legal system, the Mexican government was reportedly emboldened by the progress of Remington's battle with families of the Sandy Hook killings. Remington eventually settled that lawsuit for $73M.

Mexico's lawyers were asking for a lot more money than that—they were seeking damages in the billions of dollars. At the filing of the lawsuit, they estimated the cost would be $10B. They reached that number based on an estimate of 17,000 murders in 2019 and a 1.7 percent hit to Mexico's GDP as a result of the violence. The lawsuit said half a million firearms are smuggled from Mexico to the US every year, including 340,000 firearms from the manufacturers named in the lawsuit.

None of these claims will see an argument in court at this point, because Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor said the manufacturers were covered by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. This act protects gunmakers from lawsuits when criminals use their firearms, and while the judge expressed his sympathy towards the victims of crime and his condemnation of firearms smugglers, he said he was required to uphold US law. The Mexican legal team predictably threatened to appeal Saylor's decision, so we probably haven't heard the last on this. However, for now, the US justice system has protected the firearms manufacturers just as it was supposed to.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the industry trade association that represents gunmakers in the US, had this to say in the aftermath:

"NSSF is pleased the court dismissed Mexico’s misguided and baseless lawsuit against members of the firearm industry that sought to blame them for Mexico’s unwillingness and inability to bring Mexican drug cartels to justice in Mexican courtrooms. The court correctly dismissed the case by properly applying the bipartisan Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) that bars lawsuits against firearm manufacturers and sellers for the criminal misuse by remote third parties, here Mexican cartels, of lawfully sold firearms. Like the court, we sympathize with the plight of the Mexican people and the criminal violence involving illegal firearms they have endured. However, the crime that is devastating the people of Mexico is not the fault of members of the firearm industry, that under U.S. law, can only sell their lawful products to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights after passing a background check."

No doubt they're very pleased with the lawsuit being thrown out, because despite record sales over the past few years, a $10-billion judgement would have caused mayhem in the American firearms industry.

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