A federal judge in Boston has thrown out much of the $10-billion lawsuit filed by the Mexican government against eight gunmakers for what the government called “mass carnage” south of the border.
On Wednesday, a federal District Court judge in Boston dismissed six of the eight respondents from the lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds. Companies dismissed from the lawsuit by U.S. District Judge Dennis Saylor included Sturm, Ruger and Company, Glock, Barrett Firearms, Colt’s Manufacturing, Century International Arms and Beretta. Companies still involved in the lawsuit include gunmaker Smith & Wesson and wholesaler Whitmer Public Safety Group.
“In determining whether plaintiff has diligently made out a ‘colorable case’ of personal jurisdiction, the Court must determine whether they have ‘present[ed] facts to the court which show why jurisdiction would be found if discovery were permitted,’” Judge Saylor wrote in the ruling in Mexico v. Smith & Wesson, et al. “Here, plaintiff has not come close to meeting its burden to show a ‘colorable case’ for personal jurisdiction.
“It has made no real showing as to what, if any, information that might likely be gleaned from limited jurisdictional discovery that could change the conclusion that the assertion of personal jurisdiction over the six defendants fails to meet either the Massachusetts long-arm statute or the requirements of constitutional due process. Accordingly, its request for discovery to cure the identified jurisdictional deficiencies is denied.”
The ruling marked the latest victory for gunmakers in the lawsuit. In September 2022, Judge F. Dennis Saylor ruled Mexico’s claims did not overcome the broad protection provided to gun manufacturers by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) passed in 2005. Unlike what President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris like to say, the law isn’t “blanket immunity” for the gun industry, but it does shield gun manufacturers from damages “resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse” of a firearm.
“While the court has considerable sympathy for the people of Mexico, and none whatsoever for those who traffic guns to Mexican criminal organizations, it is duty-bound to follow the law,” Saylor wrote at the time.
The Mexican government, of course, appealed that decision. The lawsuit was spawned by Mexico’s accusation that American gun manufacturers undermined Mexico’s strict gun laws by designing, marketing and distributing “military-style assault weapons” in ways they knew would arm drug cartels and fuel murders, extortions and kidnappings.
The country said more than 500,000 guns are trafficked annually to Mexico from the United States, more than 68% of which are made by companies it sued. Of course, Mexico is largely a lawless country run by criminal drug cartels, so blaming American gunmakers for the carnage takes a long stretch of the imagination.
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