Gun makers to ask US Supreme Court to bar Mexico's lawsuit
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[February 10, 2024]
By Nate Raymond
BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. gun manufacturers plan to ask the U.S. Supreme
Court to hear their bid to escape Mexico's $10 billion lawsuit seeking
to hold them responsible for facilitating the trafficking of weapons to
drug cartels across the U.S.-Mexico border.
The planned appeal was disclosed during a virtual court hearing on
Friday by a lawyer for Smith & Wesson Brands after the Boston-based 1st
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month overturned a judge's decision
dismissing the case.
Mexico alleges in the lawsuit, filed in 2021, that the companies
undermined its strict gun laws by designing, marketing and distributing
military-style assault weapons in ways they knew would arm drug cartels,
fueling murders, extortions and kidnappings in the country.
Mexico says over 500,000 guns are trafficked annually from the U.S. into
Mexico, of which more than 68% are made by the eight companies it sued,
which also include Sturm, Ruger & Co, Beretta USA, Barrett Firearms
Manufacturing, Colt's Manufacturing Co and Glock Inc.
Mexico said the smuggling has contributed to high rates of gun-related
deaths, declining investment and economic activity and a need for it to
spend more on law enforcement and public safety.
The companies deny wrongdoing.
Andrew Lelling, Smith & Wesson's lawyer, said at Friday's hearing there
was a "reasonably good chance" the Supreme Court would agree to hear its
appeal, and he asked U.S. District Judge Dennis Saylor to put the case
on hold until the justices act on the petition.
He said the appeal would focus on whether Mexico's claims are barred by
a federal law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA),
which gives gun manufacturers broad protection from lawsuits over the
misuse of their products.
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AR-15 style rifles are displayed for sale at Firearms Unknown, a gun
store in Oceanside, California, U.S., April 12, 2021. REUTERS/Bing
Guan
"This case involves a statute that is specifically designed to allow
this specific set of defendants to avoid litigation costs if the
case at issue falls within ambit of statute," he said. "That very
question is still the one at issue."
The 1st Circuit ruled on Jan. 22 that while PLCAA can be applied to
lawsuits by foreign governments, Mexico's lawsuit "plausibly alleges
a type of claim that is statutorily exempt from the PLCAA's general
prohibition."
The court said that was because the law was only designed to protect
lawful firearms-related commerce, yet Mexico had accused the
companies of aiding and abetting illegal gun sales by facilitating
the trafficking of firearms into the country.
Saylor on Friday said he had "some reservations" about putting the
case fully on hold pending an appeal to the Supreme Court. He made
no ruling, though, and said he would decide what to do at a March 12
hearing.
Mexico's U.S. lawyer, Steve Shadowen, said it was "eager to get
started on merits of the case just as soon as we properly can."
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi
and Alistair Bell)
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