Mexico was trying to bankrupt the firearm industry in the United States. If they didn’t, then anti-gunners who advised them sure did, and that’s a big problem, especially with the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act existing explicitly to block that sort of thing and for pretty much the same reason.
When the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Mexico, it was a massive win for gun rights.
While it won’t necessarily end lawsuits against the firearm industry in general, especially with newer tactics being used by activist attorneys, it was still significant, especially as the Court’s liberal justices sided with the conservative majority.
And gun rights groups across the spectrum are thrilled.
In a statement, Gun Owners of America executive vice president Erich Pratt said about the decision, “This ruling is a powerful reminder that Americans don’t answer to globalists or foreign governments. Mexico’s gun control dystopia has empowered cartels and disarmed the innocent—and now they want to export that disaster to the U.S. The Supreme Court just told them: ‘Not on our soil.’”
GOA’s federal affairs director, Aidan Johnston, agreed, saying, “This is a massive victory for the Second Amendment and American sovereignty. The Mexican government—whose citizens are disarmed and whose officials are often complicit in cartel crime—tried to scapegoat U.S. gun companies for its own failure to secure its borders and protect its people.” He added, “GOA proudly filed an amicus brief defending our industry and our rights, and we’re grateful the Supreme Court saw through this baseless attempt to erode constitutional protections by foreign influence.”
“The ultimate goal of this lawsuit was simple – bankrupt the firearms industry, at the ultimate peril of the American people,” said Second Amendment Foundation executive director Adam Kraut. “Thankfully, the Supreme Court saw through this thinly veiled attempt to wield the legal system as a cudgel against lawful commerce.”
In a press release, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms chairman Alan Gottlieb offered this:
“This lawsuit,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “was yet another attempt, this time by a foreign government, to financially drain American firearms manufacturers. It collided with the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which the CCRKBA was instrumental in helping get passed in 2005, during the second Bush administration. Congress wisely adopted the PLCAA to prevent this kind of junk legal action.
“We are delighted the high court’s decision to reverse and remand the appeals court ruling was unanimous, and especially that it was authored by Justice Elena Kagan,” he continued. “After the trial court judge ruled for the manufacturers, the lawsuit should have died, but the Boston-based First Circuit Court of Appeals decided to revive the case, which should tell us all a great deal about that circuit. Thankfully, the Supreme Court recognized this lawsuit was nonsense in the first place, and that the appellate court’s decision needed to be reversed.”
Meanwhile, the NRA was also thrilled with the victory.
“The U.S. Supreme Court correctly renounced the tactics Mexico and its American collaborators used to try to extort and impoverish America’s firearms industry,” said Doug Hamlin, NRA Executive Vice President & CEO. “The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act is clear – firearm manufacturers are not liable for the criminal misuse of their products, and this doesn’t change just because gun control activists disapprove of their lawful business practices and products. PLCAA is the law of the land today due to the work of NRA-ILA and NRA members in the early 2000s.”
That’s a fair point, because Hamlin is absolutely correct. I remember those lawsuits in the late 80s and early 90s, and I remember thinking they were stupid, and I was pretty liberal at that point. There was no reason for anyone to sue companies that didn’t actually do anything.
Regardless, they were a thing and they’re not anymore, at least to that degree, and the NRA absolutely got that done back in the day.
Back to celebrating this win, NRA-ILA executive director John Commerford said, “This is a monumental victory for the lawful commerce of constitutionally protected products.” He added, “Gun control activists have long sought various avenues to restrict the Second Amendment in this country. Thankfully, today, the Supreme Court ended their latest attempt to bankrupt the firearms industry and make it harder for law-abiding Americans to acquire arms to protect themselves and their loved ones.”
This is a lawsuit that never should have happened. It was only filed because Mexico can’t clean up its own mess and needed to blame someone else. The wealthier and safer United States was an easy target for resentment already, so blaming us for their own problems is really just a normal political play we’ve seen before.
“Our issues aren’t our fault. We have the gun control. It’s because of this other place that doesn’t have it,” all while ignoring the fact that if guns alone were the issue, that place with fewer gun control laws would have even more violence than the place that has them.
Mexico is a prime example of that.
Even with this decision, they’ll still blame the United States. They’ll likely even use this decision to foster resentment against us. I honestly don’t care. They still need to clean up their own messes, and since this lawsuit can’t go through, there’s not really any way they can actually do anything to us.
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