Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen spearheaded a coalition of states on Tuesday in defending American gun manufacturers from being held liable for Mexico's gun violence.
In February, the Mexican government filed a lawsuit against U.S. gun makers, accusing them of facilitating cross-border gun trafficking it said has amplified violent crime in Mexico. The lawsuit is seeking $10 billion in damages and a court order to force the companies named in the lawsuit, among them Smith & Wesson, Colt, Glock, Beretta and Ruger, to change the way they do business.
In its brief to the Supreme Court, the coalition called out the actions of anti-gun activists in laying the groundwork for Mexico's lawsuit writing, "Anti-gun activists wanted more. So, they turned to the judiciary. Their admitted goal: to circumvent the political branches by turning the courts into regulators via creative legal theories and tenuous chains of causation. Even better, they knew they didn't have to win. The mere threat of a bankrupting judgment was sufficient – and if it wasn't – enough rolls of the dice would eventually land them the outlier victory they sought."
"Rather than take responsibility, Mexico and anti-gun activists are trying to blame and bankrupt American companies that follow the law," said Knudsen in a press release. "The appeals court erred in their decision and the Supreme Court needs to correct it."
"Mexico should not be permitted to exert de facto control over the rights of American citizens to alleviate the consequences of its own policy choices," wrote the attorneys general.
Because gun sales are highly regulated in Mexico and there is only one gun store, run by the state, the government estimates that 200,000 firearms are smuggled across the border from the U.S. each year. 70% of the guns used in Mexico's homicides have U.S. serial numbers, The Guardian reported.
The weapons manufacturers have sought protection under the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which prevents them from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products.
In addition to Knudsen and Montana, attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming joined the brief, along with the Arizona Legislature.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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