NRA Files U.S. Supreme Court Amicus Brief Defending American Firearms Manufacturers in Lawsuit Brought by Mexico

Today, NRA filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos.

The Mexican government sued leading American firearms manufacturers in federal court alleging that American firearms manufacturers are responsible for violence committed by Mexican drug cartels in Mexico. The Mexican government seeks billions of dollars from these American manufacturers as well as the imposition of various gun control laws, including a ban on “assault rifles,” a ban on firearms capable of holding “large-capacity” magazines, limits on multiple-gun sales, and extensive background checks for firearm sales.

The district court dismissed the lawsuit, but the First Circuit revived it. The manufacturers then filed a petition for certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. NRA filed a brief urging the Court to grant that petition.

The Court did grant the petition. NRA has now filed another brief addressing the merits of the case.

The brief argues that this case epitomizes the type of abusive lawsuit that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was enacted to prohibit. The brief provides a detailed history of the scores of lawsuits brought by the gun lobbies and anti-gun governments in the 1980s and 90s intended to bankrupt the firearms industry. The brief then refutes Mexico’s argument that “assault weapons” produced by American firearms manufacturers are responsible for crime in Mexico. It explains that Mexico’s homicide rate declined after the expiration of the U.S. “assault weapons” ban; that only a fraction of firearms used in crime in Mexico are determined to have come from the U.S.; that Mexican criminals obtain guns from all around the globe; and that the Mexican government’s own failures are primarily responsible for Mexico’s homicide rate. The brief also refutes the notion that the manufacturers’ marketing is designed to appeal to cartels by including images of the U.S. military and the American flag by highlighting the synergistic relationship between America’s firearms culture and the military use of arms.

NRA filed the brief along with the Independence Institute and FPC Action Foundation. We invite you to read the brief, here.

Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights.