LAKEWOOD, Colo. (June 5, 2025)— In a landmark unanimous decision, the United States Supreme Court has delivered a decisive win for the Second Amendment-protected rights of Americans, by reaffirming the protections of firearm manufacturers.
In Estados Unidos v. Smith & Wesson, the Supreme Court struck down Mexico’s attempt to hold firearm manufacturers liable for the criminal misuse of their lawfully sold products. The decision not only upholds long-standing legal protections, but also fortifies the foundation of the Second Amendment in modern times. This decision also sends a strong message to Mexico that they must take accountability for their own drug and violent crime issues and not try to pawn off responsibility for cartel violence on lawful firearm manufacturers.
Writing the opinion, Justice Kagan said, “The manufacturers cannot be charged with assisting in criminal acts just because Mexican cartel members like those guns too. The same is true of firearms with Spanish-language names or graphics alluding to Mexican history. Those guns may be ‘coveted by the cartels,’ as Mexico alleges; but they also may appeal, as the manufacturers rejoin, to ‘millions of law-abiding Hispanic Americans.’”
This ruling sends a powerful message across the nation: the Constitution protects not only individual gun owners but also the lawful commerce that supports them. Americans cannot keep and bear arms if they do not have the ability to acquire them. Mountain States Legal Foundation’s Center to Keep & Bear Arms is proud to have filed an amicus brief—with our partner the Buckeye Institute—in this critical case, and today we celebrate with the rest of America that the principles of the Constitution and our Second Amendment rights have been protected once again.
Center to Keep & Bear Arms Director Michael McCoy said, “Today the Supreme Court rejected ‘lawfare’ conducted by the Mexican government, which was only a thinly-veiled attempt to undermine our Second Amendment-protected rights by going after firearms manufacturers who make it possible for us to actually exercise those rights. In 2005, Congress specifically rejected this type of end-run around the Constitution; the Supreme Court was right to unanimously reinforce the provisions of that law and – in so doing – fortified our fundamental and natural right to keep and bear arms.”
Mountain States Legal Foundation is a nonprofit, public-interest legal firm established in 1977. MSLF is dedicated to individual liberty, limited and ethical government, and the benefits of the free enterprise system. MSLF defends its clients through pro bono litigation and seeks victory for its clients at the highest level possible to establish binding legal precedents to benefit millions of Americans. Through its litigation and public discourse, MSLF educates the American public on the threat unrestrained government presents to our liberties. Learn more at mslegal.org
MEDIA CONTACT: Please direct questions to Carina Constancio communications@mslegal.org, or call 303-292-2021.
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