An Ohio-based organization, the Buckeye Institute, has taken a significant step in the ongoing legal battle involving the firearms industry and Mexico. On December 3, the institute filed its second amicus brief in the case Smith & Wesson v. Mexico, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent Mexico from attributing its drug crime issues to American firearms manufacturers. This follows their initial brief submitted in May.
In 2021, Mexico initiated a lawsuit against several firearms manufacturers, including Smith & Wesson, accusing them of exacerbating the country’s drug war. Although the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed this case, it was later overturned by the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in favor of Mexico.
David C. Tryon, director of litigation at the Buckeye Institute, stated in a news release dated December 3: “The production and sale of firearms in the United States is not the cause of drug crime and violence in Mexico,” adding that Congress intended to protect against such claims with the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).
The brief filed by Buckeye Institute — one among many in Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos — was prepared alongside Mountain States Legal Foundation’s Center to Keep and Bear Arms. It argues that overturning the district court’s dismissal was an error by the First Circuit.
The argument summary emphasizes that when Congress enacted PLCAA in 2005, it aimed to shield Second Amendment rights partly by preventing lawsuits against firearm manufacturers based on third-party criminal actions.
“Cases — like this one — against the firearms industry threaten what Congress sought to protect,” states their brief submitted to SCOTUS. “Here, the government of Mexico brought suit against the industry, relying on falsehoods about firearms and using misleading statistics.”
Tryon further commented on this legal move: “This case offers the U.S. Supreme Court the opportunity to reverse the First Circuit’s decision and stop foreign governments from undermining the rights of law-abiding Americans.”
