Court to review Mexico’s landmark lawsuit against gun manufacturers: Estados Unidos Mexicanos v. Smith & Wesson
October 4, 2024
(WASHINGTON) Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will review an appeals court decision that allowed Mexico’s lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers to proceed. This will be the first time the Supreme Court has ever considered any issue concerning gun company liability. The Court will decide whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit correctly allowed claims brought by the government of Mexico to proceed under an exception to the federal gun industry liability shield, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). Global Action on Gun Violence is co-counsel for Mexico, along with Shadowen LLC.
Estados Mexicanos Unidos v. Smith & Wesson is the first lawsuit brought by a sovereign government against the gun industry. Mexico claims that U.S. gun manufacturers can be held accountable for facilitating gun trafficking across the border into Mexico, contributing to the nation’s gun violence and resulting social harms.
“Our case is strong and fully supported by the law, as the Court of Appeals held,” said Global Action on Gun Violence’s founder and president Jonathan Lowy. “We look forward to defending that decision before the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Mexico filed its suit in August 2021. In its January 2024 decision, the First Circuit concluded that Mexico had sufficiently alleged that “defendants [the gun companies] aided and abetted the knowingly unlawful downstream trafficking of their guns into Mexico.” The appeals court reversed a decision by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV who had dismissed the case, holding that PLCAA gives the gun industry immunity from civil liability in the United States.
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About Global Action on Gun Violence
Global Action on Gun Violence (GAGV) is the only non-profit organization working to end global gun violence through litigation, international action, and human rights, and draws on over 25 years’ experience litigating against the gun industry. Find out more about GAGV’s work with Mexico.