20 AGs oppose Mexico’s lawsuit against gun industry.

The $10 Billion Lawsuit Against U.S. Gunmakers

The Mexican government and some blue state leaders are appealing the dismissal of a $10 billion lawsuit holding U.S. gunmakers liable for gun crime south of the border. But Montana’s Attorney General Austin Knudsen is leading a coalition of 20 attorneys general to defend the Second Amendment and the firearms industry.

Why American Gun Manufacturers Are Not Responsible for Gun Violence in Mexico

According to Knudsen, “American gun manufacturers are not responsible for gun violence in Mexico.” The Mexican government filed the lawsuit on Aug. 4, 2021, claiming that 70 to 90 percent of guns recovered from Mexican crime scenes come from the United States. However, Chief Judge Dennis Saylor of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts dismissed the suit in October 2022, stating that the Mexican government failed to prove the manufacturers were liable for any gun crime.

The Manufacturers Named in the Lawsuit

The companies named in the lawsuit were Smith & Wesson, Ruger, Glock, Colt, Century Arms, Beretta, Barrett, and Boston-based wholesaler Interstate Arms. But Oliva, Managing Director of Public Affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, said the suit would fail again because it has no basis in the law.

Protecting Americans’ Second Amendment Rights

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin joined Knudsen and the other state lawyers to protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights. He said, “This lawsuit is part of a broad strategy by anti-gun activists to try and shut down firearms manufacturing. Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to protect American businesses from these kinds of frivolous lawsuits.”

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA)

According to politicians in California, Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, and others that joined Mexico in its lawsuit, the PLCAA gives gun makers special protection that other businesses don’t have. But the attorneys general point out that many products can be harmful, but manufacturers are liable only for deaths or injuries from defective products. Firearms manufacturers are no different.

• Before PLCAA’s enactment, no high court in the United States found gun manufacturers liable for the criminal acts of third parties.
• PLCAA simply codified this existing causation standard to protect gun manufacturers from the expense of litigating meritless tort cases and from tort law innovations targeting the gun industry.

Oliva agreed, “That law prohibits frivolous lawsuits that would seek to assign the blame for the criminal actions of remote third parties to manufacturers of l.”