Smith & Wesson Gets Supreme Court Review of Mexico Gun Suit

The US Supreme Court will consider overturning a Mexican government lawsuit accusing Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. and other arms manufacturers that they facilitate the sale of firearms to individuals linked to the country’s violent drug cartels.

In a case that could strengthen the industry’s protections against lawsuits, the justices said they would hear the company’s arguments that Mexico’s lawsuit in Massachusetts is barred under a 2005 law that provides a broad liability shield for gun manufacturers.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston said the Lawful Trade in Arms Protection Act of 2005 does not protect the companies, underscoring Mexico’s accusations that gunmakers knowingly trade with cartel suppliers. The measure allows for lawsuits against gun manufacturers who knowingly violate firearms laws in a way that causes injury.

Smith & Wesson and other companies told the Supreme Court that the First Circuit’s decision “exposes a wide range of industry to liability for doing nothing more than making available legal, non-defective products that can be used criminally downstream.”

The suit originally named eight companies as defendants, but the trial judge recently said that six gun makers do not have enough ties to Massachusetts for the case to proceed against them there. While Mexico can appeal the decision, it means for now that Smith & Wesson and wholesaler Witmer Public Safety Group Inc. are the only remaining defendants.

Mexico asked the Supreme Court not to hear the case, saying the suit alleges the companies “deliberately chose to engage in illegal affirmative conduct to profit from the criminal market for their products.”

The case, which the court will decide by July, is Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, 23-1141.

Top photo: They look at weapons on display at the Smith & Wesson stand at the Latin American Aerospace & Defense (LAAD) conference and exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, April 13, 2023. The exhibition brings together manufacturers and suppliers of technology for the forces armies, police, special forces, as well as executives of the private defense industry and government agencies. Photographer: Maria Magdalena Arrellaga/Bloomberg.

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