The Mexican government has said it will appeal its loss in a lawsuit that sought to hold U.S. manufacturers and wholesalers of firearms liable for criminal gun trafficking into Mexico.
“The PLCAA unequivocally bars lawsuits seeking to hold gun manufacturers responsible for the acts of individuals using guns for their intended purpose. And while the statute contains several narrow exceptions, none are applicable here,” Saylor wrote.
The PLCAA was enacted to prevent anti-Second Amendment activists and jurisdictions from engaging in backdoor gun control by bankrupting gun companies for engaging in lawful commerce. Manufacturers and dealers may still be sued for defective products, breach of contract, criminal misconduct, and other actions for which they are directly responsible, but not for the mere unlawful use of their products by criminals.
U.S. gun control groups, including the Brady Campaign and Everytown for Gun Safety, sided with Mexico, urging the court to ignore U.S. federal law and allow the Mexican lawsuit against U.S. companies to proceed.
Saylor’s ruling “deals a major blow to the ongoing efforts by gun-control advocates to undermine the PLCAA,“ according to The Reload, a publication that focuses on the policies and politics surrounding firearms. ”The statute has long been a target for the groups … [that] claim it unfairly shields U.S. gun makers from liability for the harm caused by gun violence. Gun-control activists in the U.S. hoped the Mexico suit would serve as a potent vehicle for piercing the statute’s protections.”
Mexico blamed the United States for violence and accused it of negligence.
“The Government of Mexico will appeal the decision of the federal judge and will insist that the arms trade must be responsible, transparent, and accountable and that the negligent way in which they are sold in the United States makes it easier for criminals to access them,” the Embassy of Mexico in the United States stated in what it called a “courtesy translation” of a statement.
“This action by the Government of Mexico has received worldwide recognition and has been considered a turning point in the discussion about the responsibility of the arms industry in the violence experienced in Mexico and the region,” the translated statement reads.
“U.S. state attorneys as well as prosecutors, academics, civil society organizations and other countries’ governments support the Government of Mexico in this action. The Government of Mexico will continue its effort to put an end to illicit arms trafficking. The civil lawsuit for damages against those who profit from the violence suffered by Mexicans goes to a second stage, in which the Foreign Ministry will insist that the negligence of these companies is seriously affecting our country.”
In the lawsuit, filed in August 2021, Mexico sued Smith & Wesson, Sturm, Ruger & Co., Glock, Barrett Firearms, Beretta, Colt, Century Arms, and Interstate Arms, claiming that the U.S. companies undermined that country’s tough gun laws by making, promoting, and selling “military-style assault weapons” in such a way that the guns would be appealing to drug cartels and criminals.
The states of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Oregon, as well as the District of Columbia have filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Mexico’s position.
