A brief submitted last week by David Kopel of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the FPC Action Foundation, and the Independent Institute argues that the actions of U.S. gun manufacturers are the cause of excessive gun violence in Mexico. This eliminated Mexico's claim that .
mexican claim
Mr. Koper clarified the Mexican government's true intentions in filing the lawsuit:
Mexico does not allege that the manufacturer violated the law, was aware of the illegal sales, or took any active action intended to facilitate the illegal sales. It seeks to bankrupt the U.S. firearms industry by holding U.S. gun manufacturers accountable for violence perpetrated by Mexican drug cartels. It's a crime.
If Mexico can overcome a motion to dismiss based on such weak grounds, the proliferation of meritless Mexican-style litigation could destroy the firearms industry from litigation costs alone.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2021 against nearly a dozen U.S. manufacturers, specifically targets Smith & Wesson, which is trying to block a court ban on semi-automatic rifles like the popular AR-15. The lawsuit seeks $10 billion in damages and “injunctive relief” by expanding background checks. Additionally, the sale of magazines containing more than 10 rounds of ammunition was also prohibited. If successful, Mexico would effectively override the Constitution's requirement that legislative power be vested exclusively in the U.S. government's legislative branch.
This lawsuit is not only a legal maneuver that seeks to inflict potentially fatal damage to the economic well-being of American gun manufacturers, but also a usurpation of legislative power by the courts.
Cartel weapons around the world
Mr. Kopel invalidates Mexico's claim that most (80 to 90 percent) of firearms used in gun violence are American-made. According to Koper, the numbers are false and fraudulent.
Of the total number of crime guns seized in Mexico, only a fraction were crucially imported from the United States. Additionally, the average age of these firearms was 15 years, indicating that many were stolen from their legal owners before becoming crime guns.
He indicates that Mexican cartels obtain weapons from all over the world, not just the United States, writing:
Mexico's black market has been dubbed a “virtual weapons bazaar,” with fragmentation grenades (from South Korea), AK-47s (from China), and shoulder-fired rocket launchers (from manufacturers in Spain, Israel, and the former Soviet Union) available. ) is coming. ”
Guatemala and Colombia also provide weapons used in Mexico's gun violence.
Mexican government responsibility
And, according to Kopel, the Mexican government itself bears much of the blame for the violence. He cites one of his sources.
The violence that Mexico faces today is the cumulative result of clear state failures, including “the state's inability and unwillingness to prevent, investigate, prosecute, and punish criminal acts.”
He also cited the U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor's 2022 report on Mexico, which condemns the Mexican government.
(U) Unlawful or arbitrary killings by police, military, or other government officials; Enforced disappearance by government officials. Torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by security forces. Harsh and life-threatening prison conditions. arbitrary arrest or detention; Restrictions on freedom of expression and the media, including violence against journalists. (and) gross acts of government corruption.
Kopel concluded that “the First Circuit's decision should be reversed.”
Circuit Court Decision
The First Circuit's decision to reopen the Mexican government's case triggered a flurry of briefs to the Supreme Court supporting the reversal. The First Circuit, dominated by anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment judges, appears to have cracked the shield protecting America's firearms industry from such frivolous and costly lawsuits. discovered.
It was the First Circuit that used the “Rube Goldberg” chain of guilt from manufacturers to Mexico, which was sufficient evidence that American gun manufacturers aided and abetted Mexico's outrageous crime wave. declared that it would provide.
The eight steps in that chain of guilt, as revealed in a brief submitted by the Firearms Policy Coalition in support of Smith & Wesson last April, are:
1. Defendant sells firearms to independent, federally licensed wholesalers.
2. These dealers sell those firearms to independent, federally licensed retailers.
3. Some of these retailers sell firearms to individuals with illegal intentions.
4. These individuals or their associates illegally sell some of those firearms to smugglers or smuggle firearms across the Mexican border.
5. Mexican cartel members then purchase or obtain smuggled firearms.
6. Cartel members then illegally used firearms in violent attacks in Mexico.
7. These attacks are harming people and property in Mexico.
8. The Mexican government has suffered consequential financial losses in order to address the injuries sustained and combat similar cartel violence.
Mr. Kopel argues that this causal link is incredibly tenuous, especially since it overturns the lower court's proper ruling that the U.S. firearms industry is protected by the PLCAA, the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. They argue that the circuit's decision cannot be relied upon. ” was passed by Congress in 2005.
The Supreme Court on Friday will consider which of a number of cases it will take up under advisement in its next term, with a decision expected in June 2025.
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