(The Center Square) – An Ohio policy group joined 28 attorneys general from around the country and other groups, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop Mexico from blaming American countries for its violence.
The Buckeye Institute joined the Mountain States Legal Foundation on Wednesday to file its second amicus brief in Smith & Wesson v. Mexico, saying Mexico cannot shift the blame for its failure to control drug cartel crime in Mexico to American companies.
“The production and sale of firearms in the United States is not the cause of drug crime and violence in Mexico,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “And this attempt by Mexico to blame American companies for its failure to control crime is exactly the type of thing Congress sought to protect against when it passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.”
In their first brief, the two groups said the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong when it overturned a district court’s dismissal of the case.
“This case offers the U.S. Supreme Court the opportunity to reverse the 1st Circuit’s decision and stop foreign governments from undermining the rights of law-abiding Americans,” Tryon said.
On Tuesday, a coalition of 28 attorneys general petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a case.
At issue is a 2022 lawsuit brought by the Mexican government against U.S. gun manufacturers, saying they are responsible for Mexican cartel crime. A federal judge in Massachusetts dismissed the lawsuit. Mexico appealed to the 1st Circuit, which ruled that Mexico’s claims fall within an exception to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005.
The state prosecutors asked the Supreme Court to reverse the 1st Circuit’s ruling noting it has already rejected the expansive view of “proximate causation” that the 1st Circuit used to allow the case to go forward.