Supreme Court hears challenge to PLCAA immunity in Mexico’s suit against U.S. gun makers

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in case 231141, Mexico v. Smith & Wesson Brands, over whether the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) bars a lawsuit by the government of Mexico alleging that U.S. firearms manufacturers and distributors aided and abetted illegal retail sales that have fed cartel violence.

At issue before the court were two legal questions central to the complaint: (1) whether the complaint adequately alleges that defendants “knowingly violated a State or Federal statute” that would fall within PLCAA’s predicate exception; and (2) whether proximate cause exists between the manufacturers’ conduct and harms suffered by Mexico given multiple intervening illegal acts (straw purchases, smuggling, cartel violence).

Mister Francisco, counsel for the petitioners (manufacturers and distributors), told the justices that Mexico’s theory is unprecedented and foreclosed by PLCAA and existing precedent. “No case in American history supports that theory, and it's squarely foreclosed by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,” he said, arguing that the chain of events…