The Tennessee Firearms Association and Tennessee Firearms Foundation joined an amicus brief on Tuesday filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in the appeal by Smith and Wesson in the case Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos.
The case stems from a lawsuit brought by the Mexican government in 2021, in which the government alleged U.S. gun manufacturers should be liable for “aiding and abetting” gun violence carried out by Mexican drug cartels.
While a district court in Massachusetts applied the provisions of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to reject Mexico’s claims, the Mexican government appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which ultimately sided with Mexico and reversed the trial court decision.
Smith and Wesson then appealed the First Circuit Court’s decision to the Supreme Court.
Tuesday’s amicus brief joined by the Tennessee Firearms Association and other organizations including Gun Owners of America, Inc. opposes the decision of the First Circuit Court of Appeals and asks the Supreme Court to dismiss Mexico’s lawsuit.
The Tennessee Firearms Association said its support of Smith and Wesson stems from the organization’s work to “protect the rights of Tennesseans, as protected by the Second Amendment, from government infringements and abuses such as reflected in the First Circuit’s opinion and the attempts by Mexico (probably in cooperation with gun control advocates in the United States) to destroy the Second Amendment Supply Chain.”
Oral arguments in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos have been scheduled to be heard in front of the nation’s highest court for March 4, 2025.
The Supreme Court will rule on the following issues in the case:
(1) Whether the production and sale of firearms in the United States is the proximate cause of alleged injuries to the Mexican government stemming from violence committed by drug cartels in Mexico; and
(2) whether the production and sale of firearms in the United States amounts to “aiding and abetting” illegal firearms trafficking because firearms companies allegedly know that some of their products are unlawfully trafficked.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
