WASHINGTON — President Trump blames Mexico for fentanyl and other dangerous drugs that come across the southern border.
But Mexico blames the United States and its gunmakers for arming the drug cartels with high-powered, military-style rifles that come cross the border from the north.
“Mexico has one gun store in the entire nation, yet the nation is awash in guns,” lawyers for the Mexican government told the U.S. Supreme Court.
They said these American-made assault weapons are used to “assassinate politicians, attack the military and kill and injure judges, journalists, police and ordinary citizens.”
The issue was before the Supreme Court on Tuesday because the Mexican government sought the help of U.S. courts. It sued seven gunmakers and a gun distributor in a federal court in Massachusetts seeking billions in damages and new limits on the marketing of military-style weapons.
To the surprise of the gun industry, Mexico won a preliminary round in the U.S. court of appeals in Boston.
Congress in 2005 adopted a law that shields gunmakers and gun sellers from liability for murders, crimes and other harm caused by the “unlawful misuse” of a firearm.
A federal judge dismissed Mexico’s lawsuits based on the shield law, but the appeals court disagreed. The three-judge panel cited the allegations that the gunmakers chose to supply the violent drug cartels by sending huge numbers of military-style weapons to dealers along the border.
“One dealer knowingly sold 650 guns to straw purchasers recruited by a drug cartel after advising the purchasers on how to evade law enforcement,” they told the court.
However, the justices voted to hear an appeal from the gunmakers, and they sounded inclined to dismiss the suit.
“It’s hard to imagine a suit more clearly barred by” the shield law passed by Congress, said Washington attorney Noel Francisco. “Mexico has sued a group of leading American firearms companies, seeking to hold them liable under Mexican law for harms incurred by the Mexican government as a result of Mexican drug cartels committing crimes with firearms in Mexico.”
During Tuesday’s argument, most of the justices, liberal and conservative, sounded skeptical of Mexico’s lawsuit.
Justice Clarence Thomas questioned whether there was any evidence that the gunmakers had violated the law.
Justice Elena Kagan said it was not clear that gunmakers are working with or were responsible for dealers who are selling guns along the border.
It will be several months before the court hands down a decision in the case of Smith & Wesson vs. Estados Unidos Mexicanos.