SCOTUS to determine if Foreign Countries can Sue U.S. Gun Manufacturers over Gun Violence in their Countries

Supreme Court to hear Mexico lawsuit against U.S. gunmakers – National Constitution Center
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Excerpt:

In one of the most high-profile cases of its current term, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in early March in a lawsuit filed by the Mexican government against U.S.-based firearms manufacturers.

In Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., et al., v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, Mexico is seeking damages caused by the use of firearms and ammunition made in the United States by cartel members, arguing that the firearms makers should not be shielded by a law passed in 2005 against such lawsuits.

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) prohibits “civil liability actions from being brought or continued against manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or importers of firearms or ammunition for damages, injunctive or other relief resulting from the misuse of their products by others.”

Mexico claims United States firearms makers have “aided and abetted unlawful firearms sales to traffickers for cartels in Mexico” and the firearms makers should be excluded from protections under the PLCAA. It cites language in the act known as the “predicate exemption” for the exclusion. Under the exemption, if a company knowingly violates a state or federal firearms law, and those violations are a “proximate cause” of the harm for which relief is sought, legal action can move forward.