Mexico Targets U.S. Second Amendment in Supreme Court Battle Over Gun Industry
Mexico continues to struggle with cartel-related violence, a crisis that some argue has pushed the country toward becoming a narco-state. Instead of addressing its internal security failures, however, Mexico’s government is placing the blame on American gun manufacturers.
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case on Tuesday in which Mexico is attempting to hold firearm companies like Smith & Wesson accountable for its ongoing struggles, according to The New York Times. The lawsuit, originally filed in 2021, was dismissed by a lower court in 2022. However, in 2024, a panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, Massachusetts, unanimously reinstated the case.
Mexico is seeking $10 billion in damages from American gun makers, arguing that these companies are responsible for arming criminal organizations within its borders.
Proponents of the Second Amendment in the U.S. strongly reject this claim, especially given that civilian gun ownership in Mexico is highly restricted and nearly impossible for law-abiding citizens.
In an amicus brief, the National Rifle Association warned, “Mexico has extinguished its constitutional arms right and now seeks to extinguish America’s.”
The NRA further argued that “Mexico aims to destroy the American firearms industry financially” and that its lawsuit is an attempt to “bankrupt the American firearms industry by holding lawful firearms manufacturers liable for violence committed by Mexican drug cartels in Mexico.” The brief emphasized that Mexico had not proven any direct misconduct or intent by manufacturers to support cartel violence and warned that allowing such a weak legal claim to proceed could lead to an industry-wide collapse due to mounting litigation costs.
The National Association for Gun Rights also weighed in, criticizing the Mexican government’s approach. The group highlighted that Mexico “does not share this tradition of respect for the individual right to keep and bear arms.”
“These strict gun control measures have not stopped a surge of violence, often linked to organized criminal activity associated with the drug trade in Mexico,” the brief stated.
“Rather than addressing the root causes of this violence at home, Mexico seeks to cast blame elsewhere,” it continued, arguing that instead of tackling corruption or confronting cartels directly, Mexico has chosen to shift responsibility onto American gun manufacturers.
This legal battle, which has been making its way through the courts for several years, has gained momentum amid the increasingly tense relationship between Mexico and the U.S. since President Donald Trump’s return to office in January.
Trump’s decision to designate Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations sparked a reaction from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
“If they declare these criminal groups as terrorists, then we’ll have to expand our U.S. lawsuit,” Sheinbaum stated, as reported by The Times.
Since Trump’s second inauguration, tensions have increased over issues such as trade tariffs and even the proposed renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, illustrating the deep divide between the two nations.
When Mexico initially filed this lawsuit in 2021, then-President Joe Biden had just taken office and was implementing policies that resulted in an open-border crisis. These policies exacerbated problems stemming from Mexico and Latin America, leading to a dramatic rise in human trafficking, drug smuggling, and illegal immigration—placing an unprecedented burden on the U.S.
The core issues fueling this crisis are rooted in Mexico, not the United States. The only reason these problems have reached such critical levels within American borders is due to failed leadership and policy decisions of the past administration.
Beyond the legal question of whether a foreign government should have standing to sue U.S. businesses that provide self-defense tools to law-abiding citizens, the broader implications of this case raise serious concerns. The past four years have shown how misguided policies can make America pay for problems it did not create.
If anything, it should be the U.S. suing Mexico—not the other way around.