FPCAF Asks Supreme Court to End Anti-Gun Lawfare Campaign
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 6, 2024) – FPC Action Foundation (FPCAF) joined in filing an important brief with the United States Supreme Court in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., et al. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos that seeks to stop Mexico’s attempts to import its gun control agenda into the United States through ill-conceived, costly lawfare. FPCAF joined the National Rifle Association and the Independence Institute in filing this brief.
Like the anti-gun groups in the 1980s and 90s who tried—and failed—to weaponize our justice system against the gun industry, Mexico is similarly attempting to hold American gun companies liable for the violence being committed by cartels south of the border.
In August 2021, Mexico filed the underlying lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court against several firearm manufacturers, including Smith & Wesson. Mexico’s success in this moving this case forward could have devastating results on the firearms community and the ability for peaceable people to exercise their natural right to self-defense.
Today’s filing is in support of Smith & Wesson’s appeal of the First Circuit Court of Appeals’ refusal to uphold the dismissal of the claims against them despite the lack of legal merit in the case and the clear violation of The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).
PLCAA was enacted to prohibit abusive lawsuits against the firearms community, prevent judges from imposing gun control through litigation, and preserve individuals’ access to firearms and ammunition for all lawful purposes in support of their constitutionally protected rights. PLCAA has largely been successful in preventing these abusive lawsuits for several years.
“Mexico seeks to bankrupt the American firearms industry by making American firearms manufacturers liable for violence perpetrated by Mexican drug cartels in Mexico—despite failing to allege that the manufacturers violated any law, were aware of any unlawful sale, or took any affirmative act intended to further a crime,” argues the brief. “If Mexico can overcome a motion to dismiss on such a weak foundation, the proliferation of meritless Mexico-style cases could destroy the firearms industry solely through litigation costs.”
“Mexico is trying to sidestep basic legal principles, American law, and the U.S. Constitution in bringing this unfounded lawsuit against the U.S. firearms market,” said Cody J. Wisniewski, President of FPC Action Foundation. “This attack is really an attack on gun owners in the United States, as it seeks to cripple the commercial market for firearms and impose draconian gun control regulations via lawfare and coercive settlements. We look forward to the Supreme Court ending Mexico’s flawed maneuver."
FPCAF would like to thank Joseph Greenlee, Erin Ernhardt, David Kopel, and George Mocsary for their work as counsel on this brief.
FPC Action Foundation (FPCActionFoundation.org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty through charitable legal action, public policy, education, and research programs. Individuals who want to support this and other cases can make a tax-deductible donation to the FPC Action Foundation here.