BOSTON, MA— The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston ruled in favor of Mexican government officials in a $10 Billion lawsuit against American gun manufacturers claiming they are responsible for the illegal use of firearms that are often obtained illegally from third-party sellers and smuggled through the fatally compromised southern border.
The three-judge panel ruled in favor of Mexico led by U.S. Circuit Judge William Kayatta, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, who wrote that the lawsuit "plausibly alleges a type of claim that is statutorily exempt from the PLCAA's general prohibition."
Kayatta, who formerly clerked under notably left-leaning Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, said the judges found, "that the complaint adequately alleges that defendants aided and abetted the knowingly unlawful downstream trafficking of their guns into Mexico," according to Axios.
In the text of the ruling, Kayatta employs well-worn anti-Second Amendment talking points used by gun-control advocates for decades in efforts to strip American citizens of our right to bear arms.
He writes, "...defendants make assault rifles with high rates of fire, low recoil, and the capacity to hold large amounts of ammunition. The guns can be easily converted into fully automatic weapons. Some of defendants' guns are "weapons of war,"... Such weapons are especially attractive to Mexican drug cartels, which frequently engage in military-style combat against Mexican military and police personnel."
Obtusely, Kayatta observes "gun dealers along the border have proliferated while elsewhere in the nation their numbers have decreased. Gun dealers in border states now sell twice as many guns as dealers in other parts of the country."
He does so while ignoring the sales trend's obvious link to soaring crime rates in border states, coupled with the current Biden administration and Mexican government policies which have allowed drug and human smuggling to run rampant, while law enforcement agencies are intentionally rendered powerless to assist, leaving civilians to shoulder the burden for their defense.
The appeals ruling proceeded after Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor of the U.S. District Court in Boston ruled in favor of Smith & Wesson Brands Inc, Sturm, Ruger & Co., Glock and various other defendants, dismissing the case in October.
The Mexican government alleged in the lawsuit that the manufacturers are "undermining Mexico's strict gun laws by designing, marketing and selling military-style assault weapons that cartels could use," as reported by Reuters.
At the time of the initial ruling Mexico's foreign ministry claimed in a statement, "This suit by the Mexican government has received worldwide recognition and has been considered a turning point in the discussion around the gun industry's responsibility for the violence experience in Mexico and the region."
Judge Saylor disagreed, however, finding in his ruling that U.S. federal law "unequivocally" prohibits lawsuits that attempt to hold gun manufacturers liable for the individual actions of people using their weapons for illegal purposes.
In a 44-page decision, decisively striking down the suit he wrote, "While the court has considerable sympathy for the people of Mexico, and none whatsoever for those who traffic guns to Mexican criminal organizations, it is duty-bound to follow the law." He explained that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, protects American gun manufacturers from lawsuits attempting to punish them for "the harm solely caused by the criminal or unlawful misuse of firearm products ... by others when the product functioned as designed and intended."
Lawrence Keane, general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation told Reuters, "The crime that is devastating the people of Mexico is not the fault of members of the firearm industry, that under U.S. law, can only sell their lawful products to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights after passing a background check." He called the Mexican government's lawsuit "baseless."
Responding to the appellate court's ruling Keane said in a statement posted to X, "Mexico should spend its time enforcing its own laws & bring Mexican criminals to justice in Mexican courtrooms, instead of scapegoating the firearm industry for their unwillingness to protect Mexican citizens."
The case was remanded back to the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts and will now proceed to discovery.
The three-judge panel ruled in favor of Mexico led by U.S. Circuit Judge William Kayatta, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, who wrote that the lawsuit "plausibly alleges a type of claim that is statutorily exempt from the PLCAA's general prohibition."
Kayatta, who formerly clerked under notably left-leaning Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, said the judges found, "that the complaint adequately alleges that defendants aided and abetted the knowingly unlawful downstream trafficking of their guns into Mexico," according to Axios.
In the text of the ruling, Kayatta employs well-worn anti-Second Amendment talking points used by gun-control advocates for decades in efforts to strip American citizens of our right to bear arms.
He writes, "...defendants make assault rifles with high rates of fire, low recoil, and the capacity to hold large amounts of ammunition. The guns can be easily converted into fully automatic weapons. Some of defendants' guns are "weapons of war,"... Such weapons are especially attractive to Mexican drug cartels, which frequently engage in military-style combat against Mexican military and police personnel."
Obtusely, Kayatta observes "gun dealers along the border have proliferated while elsewhere in the nation their numbers have decreased. Gun dealers in border states now sell twice as many guns as dealers in other parts of the country."
He does so while ignoring the sales trend's obvious link to soaring crime rates in border states, coupled with the current Biden administration and Mexican government policies which have allowed drug and human smuggling to run rampant, while law enforcement agencies are intentionally rendered powerless to assist, leaving civilians to shoulder the burden for their defense.
The appeals ruling proceeded after Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor of the U.S. District Court in Boston ruled in favor of Smith & Wesson Brands Inc, Sturm, Ruger & Co., Glock and various other defendants, dismissing the case in October.
The Mexican government alleged in the lawsuit that the manufacturers are "undermining Mexico's strict gun laws by designing, marketing and selling military-style assault weapons that cartels could use," as reported by Reuters.
At the time of the initial ruling Mexico's foreign ministry claimed in a statement, "This suit by the Mexican government has received worldwide recognition and has been considered a turning point in the discussion around the gun industry's responsibility for the violence experience in Mexico and the region."
Judge Saylor disagreed, however, finding in his ruling that U.S. federal law "unequivocally" prohibits lawsuits that attempt to hold gun manufacturers liable for the individual actions of people using their weapons for illegal purposes.
In a 44-page decision, decisively striking down the suit he wrote, "While the court has considerable sympathy for the people of Mexico, and none whatsoever for those who traffic guns to Mexican criminal organizations, it is duty-bound to follow the law." He explained that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, protects American gun manufacturers from lawsuits attempting to punish them for "the harm solely caused by the criminal or unlawful misuse of firearm products ... by others when the product functioned as designed and intended."
Lawrence Keane, general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation told Reuters, "The crime that is devastating the people of Mexico is not the fault of members of the firearm industry, that under U.S. law, can only sell their lawful products to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights after passing a background check." He called the Mexican government's lawsuit "baseless."
Responding to the appellate court's ruling Keane said in a statement posted to X, "Mexico should spend its time enforcing its own laws & bring Mexican criminals to justice in Mexican courtrooms, instead of scapegoating the firearm industry for their unwillingness to protect Mexican citizens."
The case was remanded back to the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts and will now proceed to discovery.
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Comments
2024-01-30T23:31-0500 | Comment by: Joe
These judges need to be removed, & by removed, I do not mean the just walk away.
2024-01-31T17:17-0500 | Comment by: Rick
This asinine ruling will be overturned but know that I would fully support the suit against the government and its agents that have allowed the border to become so porous that literally millions of people are strolling across it. God knows what is going out of our country but I will almost guarantee that no US gun company is smuggling weapons to Mexico.