SCOTUS urged to hear Mexico's lawsuit blaming US gun makers for cartel violence

 

A cohort of 27 top Republican prosecutors have filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court, asking it to take up a case brought by the Mexican government that seeks to hold American gun manufacturers responsible for gun violence at the hands of the cartels.

On Tuesday, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, along with GOP colleagues, asked the court to hear the case to stop "a foreign sovereign’s use of American courts to effectively limit the rights of American citizens."

...Mexico has also said that more than 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 and that the smuggling has contributed to high rates of gun-related deaths, declining investment and economic activity, and a need for Mexico to spend more on law enforcement and public safety.The case stems from a lawsuit filed in 2021 by the Mexican government, alleging U.S. gun manufacturers like Smith & Wesson, Ruger and others should be liable for gun violence carried out by cartels south of the border because the companies were aware their firearms were being trafficked into the country.

Mexico's lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge in Massachusetts last year, but Mexico successfully appealed its case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, with the support of California and other Democrat-led states...more