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The case reverses longstanding complaints by #Trump that Mexican cartels have contributed to rising #violence in the #UnitedStates. Instead, #Mexico argues the majority of #guns found at Mexican #crime scenes come from the US. It seeks some $10 billion in damages from #US #GunManufacturers.

The dispute comes before the justices at a time of heightened tension between the 2 countries as the #Trump admin leans on #Mexico to crack down on illegal #immigration & cartel organizations. #Tariffs on imported goods from Mexico are scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday — the same day the justices are set to consider the guns lawsuit.

#Trump has cited #DrugTrafficking from #Mexico as one of the factors driving the… #tariffs. His admin has taken a number of steps to push back on the #cartels, including designating 7 of the #criminal groups as foreign #terrorist organizations. That move could result in penalties, including #criminal charges, for companies found to be entangled w/the cartels, but it has also raised concerns from the Mexican govt of a potential violation of Mexico’s #sovereignty.

Lawyers for #Mexico argue that US #GunManufacturers & gun dealers are complicit in what they call an “#IronRiver” of #firearms pouring into the country & arming #cartels. They point to strict controls on gun purchases in Mexico, where civilians are not allowed to purchase the types of rapid-fire, powerful military-style weapons favored by the cartels, as evidence that as many as half a million firearms are smuggled from the #UnitedStates into Mexico each year.

“It is far easier & far more efficient to stop the #crime gun pipeline at its source & to turn off the spigot,” said Jonathan Lowy, president of Global Action on #GunViolence & a longtime litigator against the gun industry who has worked on the case on behalf of #Mexico.

The #GunManufacturers, joined by a slew of gun groups including the #NRA, have argued the lawsuit would undermine gun rights in the #UnitedStates.

“#Mexico has extinguished its constitutional arms right & now seeks to extinguish America’s. To that end, Mexico aims to destroy the American firearms industry financially,”the #NRA said in a brief supporting the #GunManufacturers.

The 6-3 #SCOTUS conservative supermajority has worked to expand gun rights. But at a time when #Trump has targeted the country, it has offered a forum for Mexico to publicize its counter case that US gun makers share the blame for cartel violence.

…#Mexico first sued multiple gun companies in 2021, arguing that the cartel bloodshed was “the foreseeable result of the defendants’ deliberate actions & business practices.”

A trial court judge dismissed the case, finding it was barred by a 2005 federal #law that limits litigation against #GunManufacturers & distributors & has provided immunity from actions brought by the families of people killed & injured by their weapons.

A unanimous panel of judges of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston, overturned that decision. They found that the lawsuit met the criteria for a part of the #law allowing for litigation in cases where knowing violations of #firearms laws are a direct cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.

#GunManufacturers asked #SCOTUS to hear the case, Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, No. 23-1141.

#SCOTUS appeared skeptical on Tuesday that the Mexican government could legally sue #US #GunManufacturers over claims that they share the blame for the horrific #GunViolence of the drug cartels.

#law #USpol #geopolitics #GunControl #GunTrafficking #Mexico
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/us/politics/supreme-court-mexico-argument-guns.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=1E522D13-CBE2-4F2E-87D0-A9A6869517F0

@markstoneman @hembrow @Nonilex In a way sad but not so surprising. I remember an incident many decades ago involving someone named “Fred Trump” purchasing several million dollars worth of gambling chips in a casino owned by his son and never using them.