The government of Mexico is suing U.S. gun-makers for their role in facilitating cross-border gun trafficking that has supercharged violent crime in Mexico.
The lawsuit seeks USD 10 billion in damages and a court order to force the companies named in the lawsuit — including Smith & Wesson, Colt, Glock, Beretta, and Ruger — to change the way they do business. In January, a federal appeals court in Boston, Massachusetts decided that the industry’s immunity shield, which so far has protected gun-makers from civil liability, does not apply to Mexico’s lawsuit.
As a legal scholar who has analyzed lawsuits against the gun industry for more than 25 years, I believe this decision to allow Mexico’s lawsuit to proceed could be a game changer. To understand why, let’s begin with some background about the federal law that protects the gun industry from civil lawsuits.
Gun industry immunity
In 2005, Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which prohibits lawsuits against firearm manufacturers and sellers for injuries arising from criminal misuse of a gun.
Importantly, there are limits to this immunity shield. For example, it doesn’t protect a manufacturer or...
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