{"id":1475480,"date":"2024-07-05T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1475480"},"modified":"2024-07-05T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T22:00:00","slug":"mexico-asks-us-supreme-court-to-allow-its-10-billion-lawsuit-against-us-gun-makers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/mexico-asks-us-supreme-court-to-allow-its-10-billion-lawsuit-against-us-gun-makers\/1475480\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico Asks US Supreme Court To Allow Its $10 Billion Lawsuit Against US Gun Makers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mexico Asks US Supreme Court To Allow Its $10 Billion Lawsuit Against US Gun Makers<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Mexico urged the U.S. Supreme Court this week to let its $10 billion lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers for allegedly flooding that country with firearms proceed in the lower courts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Although some gun control activists welcome Mexico\u2019s lawsuit, gun rights advocates say the legal action by a foreign government is exploiting U.S. laws in an effort to cripple the U.S. firearms industry and weaken the Second Amendment protections Americans enjoy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit allowed the case to move forward after it was dismissed by a federal district court.<\/p>\n

The new filing by Mexico on July 3 comes after lead petitioner Smith and Wesson filed a petition<\/a> with the Supreme Court on April 18 seeking to overturn the First Circuit ruling. Among the co-petitioners are Beretta U.S.A. Corp., Glock Inc., and Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc.<\/p>\n

In its brief<\/a>, Mexico argues the First Circuit ruled correctly and that it should be allowed to move forward with its claim that the petitioners \u201cdeliberately chose to engage in unlawful \u2026 conduct to profit off the criminal market for their products.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The circuit court held that Mexico\u2019s complaint made a plausible claim that the petitioners \u201cdeliberately aided and abetted the unlawful sale of firearms to purchasers supplying brutal cartels in Mexico\u201d and that that country suffered harm as a result, the brief stated.<\/p>\n

The gun makers are wrong to argue that the prospect of them being held \u201cliable for negligence and public nuisance\u201d presents \u201can existential threat to the gun industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The First Circuit\u2019s decision came after a federal district court threw out the lawsuit on Sept. 30, 2022.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Massachusetts dismissed the lawsuit that claimed U.S. companies were intentionally undermining Mexico\u2019s tough gun laws by making \u201cmilitary-style assault weapons\u201d that find their way to drug cartels and criminals.<\/p>\n

Judge Saylor found that the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) of 2005 \u201cunequivocally bars lawsuits seeking to hold gun manufacturers responsible for the acts of individuals using guns for their intended purpose.\u201d The PLCAA was enacted to protect the industry from frivolous lawsuits.<\/p>\n

But in January 2024, a three-judge panel of the First Circuit reversed, returning the case to the district court and allowing the lawsuit to proceed.<\/p>\n

Circuit Judge William Kayatta\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0that the PLCAA places limits on the kinds of lawsuits that foreign governments may bring in U.S. courts for harm experienced outside the United States, but held that Mexico made a plausible argument that qualifies for an exception under the statute. The exception pertains to \u201cknowing violations of statutes regulating the sale or marketing of firearms,\u201d which is what Mexico accuses the firearms companies of doing.<\/p>\n

In its ruling, the First Circuit pointed at the U.S. firearms industry. Despite strict laws that make it \u201cvirtually impossible\u201d for criminals to obtain guns lawfully in Mexico, the country still experiences the third-highest number of gun-related deaths in the world, rising from fewer than 2,500 in 2003 to about 23,000 in 2019, Judge Kayatta wrote.<\/p>\n

The spike in gun violence \u201ccorrelates\u201d with the boost in gun production in the United States that started when the U.S. assault weapon ban lapsed in 2004. Mexico claims that illegal gun trafficking into the country was driven largely by Mexican drug cartels\u2019 demands for military-style weapons.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, Mexico claims that between 70 and 90 percent of the guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico were trafficked into the country from the United States,\u201d Judge Saylor wrote.<\/em><\/p>\n

In this \u201cgun-violence epidemic,\u201d Mexico has had to pay the cost of additional medical, mental health, and law enforcement efforts, and has suffered diminished property values, and decreased revenues from business investment and economic activity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The firearms companies make more than 68 percent of U.S. guns that end up in Mexico, or between 342,000 and 597,000 guns each year, he wrote.<\/p>\n

The judge added that Mexico claims the companies are aware that their guns are trafficked into that country \u201cand make deliberate design, marketing, and distribution choices to retain and grow that illegal market and the substantial profits that it produces.\u201d <\/strong>Mexico argues the companies design their firearms as military-style weapons to cater to the drug cartels.<\/p>\n

In the new brief, Mexico argues that the gun makers\u2019 petition to the Supreme Court is premature.<\/p>\n

Several legal issues, including jurisdiction, have yet to be resolved by the district court, and this would be followed by evidence-gathering and possibly a trial and appeal, the brief states.<\/p>\n

\u201cPetitioners\u2019 challenges are best addressed on a developed factual record, if it proves necessary to address them at all. That is why this Court routinely denies petitions seeking review of a suit at such an early stage.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On the other side, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and 26 other federal lawmakers previously urged<\/a> the Supreme Court to grant the companies\u2019 petition.<\/p>\n

\u201cMexico\u2019s lawsuit is an affront to the sovereignty of the United States of America,\u201d <\/strong>the lawmakers\u2019 May 22 brief states.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt has no place in federal court, and it attempts to dragoon American courts to subvert the policy determinations of the political branches of the U.S. Government,\u201d the brief states, referring to the PLCAA.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mexico is attempting \u201cto impose its view of law, the right to bear arms, and liability protection on the American people,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> the document states.<\/p>\n

It is unclear when the Supreme Court will consider the petition in Smith and Wesson Brands Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. At least four of the nine justices must vote to grant the petition for it to advance to the oral argument stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 07\/05\/2024 – 14:00<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/geopolitical\/mexico-asks-us-supreme-court-allow-its-10-billion-lawsuit-against-us-gun-makers<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mexico Asks US Supreme Court To Allow Its $10 Billion Lawsuit Against US Gun Makers Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times, Mexico urged…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1475481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1475480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1475480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1475480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1475480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1475481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1475480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1475480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1475480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}