XPost: law.court.federal, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.society.sovereign, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: a2@usa.us   
      
   DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Supreme Court will hear a case to   
   decide whether Mexico may sue American gun manufacturers and   
   distributors for crimes committed by drug cartels with their firearms,   
   according to court documents released Friday.   
      
   The high court will rule on whether gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson and   
   firearms distributor Interstate Arms are protected from liability for   
   crimes committed by cartels in Mexico with firearms they made or   
   distributed under the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,   
   which protects gun manufacturers from lawsuits over crimes committed   
   with their products, according to court filings.   
      
   The lawsuit was initially dismissed in 2022, with Massachusetts District   
   Judge F. Dennis Saylor saying that Mexico lacked standing and that the   
   federal law protects the defendants specifically against Mexico’s claims   
   for legal liability for crimes committed with their products.   
      
   However, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overruled the 2022   
   decision, saying the law doesn’t extend to Mexico’s specific claims   
   against Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms. The lawsuit was dismissed   
   again by Saylor in August, with S&W filing a petition for certiorari   
   April 18.   
      
   “In Mexico’s eyes, continuing these lawful practices amounts to aiding   
   and abetting the cartels,” S&W said in the petition. “According to   
   Mexico, American firearms companies are liable because they have refused   
   to adopt policies to curtail the supply of firearms smuggled south—such   
   as making only ‘sporting rifles’ or cabining sales to those with a   
   ‘legitimate need’ for a firearm.”   
      
   Mexico argued in the initial lawsuit that 342,000 to 597,000 guns made   
   in part by Smith & Wesson are trafficked across the border into Mexico   
   annually, according to court filings. Mexico also alleged that the 1994   
   assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 led to an increase in guns   
   manufactured and trafficked to Mexico.   
      
   Smith & Wesson wrote in the petition:   
      
   The complaint alleges exactly how firearms are made by defendants, sold   
   to wholesalers, then sold to retailers, then purchased by straw   
   purchasers, then taken over the border by smugglers, then used for   
   criminal acts by cartels in Mexico, resulting in harm to victims,   
   ultimately imposing costs on the Mexican government. The questions are   
   simply whether those facts amount to aiding and abetting and satisfy   
   proximate cause.   
      
   Smith & Wesson did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News   
   Foundation’s request for comment. Interstate Arms could not be reached   
   for comment.   
      
   https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/10/04/can-us-gun-manufacturer-d   
   stributor-be-held-liable-for-cartel-crime-supreme-court-to-rule/   
      
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