A federal appeals panel in Boston ruled Monday that a $10 billion lawsuit brought by Mexico against U.S. weapons manufacturers whose weapons are used by drug cartels can proceed, overturning a lower court that had rejected the case.
The decision, which will likely be appealed, represents one of the most significant setbacks for gun manufacturers since the passage of a federal law nearly two decades ago that granted immunity from lawsuits brought by the families of those killed and injured by the their weapons.
Mexico, in an effort to challenge the scope of that law, sued six manufacturers in 2021, including Smith & Wesson, Glock and Ruger. He argued that the companies should be held accountable for trafficking half a million firearms across the border per year, some of which were used in murders.
In September 2022, a Federal District Court judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the law bars lawsuits brought by foreign governments.
But Judge William J. Kayatta Jr., an Obama appointee and member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, writing for a unanimous majority, revived the lawsuit. The ruling states that the plaintiffs had made a “plausible” argument that their case was “statutorily exempt” from the immunity shield.
In their appeal, Mexico’s lawyers, assisted by U.S. gun control groups, said the companies “aided and abetted the knowingly illegal downstream trafficking” of their weapons into Mexico.
Gun violence is rampant in Mexico despite a near-total ban on firearm ownership.
According to Everytown Law, the legal arm of the gun control group founded by former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, about 70 to 90 percent of guns trafficked into Mexico came from the United States.
Gun control advocates on Monday welcomed the decision by a three-judge panel, describing it as a milestone in holding the gun industry accountable.
“Not only has the Court recognized another country’s right to its U.S. weapons companies; it also pierced the unjust legal shield that gun companies hid behind,” said Jonathan Lowy, a Maryland-based attorney who serves as Mexico’s co-counsel in the case and is a founder of Global Action on Gun Violence.
Those who support the gun industry criticized the ruling.
“We respectfully and deeply disagree with today’s decision and are reviewing our legal options,” said Larry Keane, a senior official at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry’s main trade association.
“The government of Mexico should spend its time enforcing its laws and bringing Mexican criminals to justice in Mexican courts, instead of scapegoating the firearms industry for their inability and unwillingness to protect citizens Mexicans from the cartels,” he said.