The Worst Part of the Unanimous Supreme Court Ruling Blocking a Lawsuit Against Gunmakers

I wrote a piece for Slate with the headline that titles this post. It was just published there. Below is an excerpt, please head click here for the full version.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the government of Mexico may not continue its lawsuit seeking to hold firearms manufacturers and a firearms distributor civilly accountable for their role in causing cartel-driven gun violence in Mexico. Having taken the case at an unusually early stage in the litigation, and so working from an undeveloped factual record, all nine justices agreed that Mexico's current complaint does not even satisfactorily allege that the defendants have aided and abetted U.S. dealers who illegally sell guns to traffickers who then get them to the cartels in Mexico. 

What's worse, Justices Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson each wrote separate concurrences in which they wade into the substantive law of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), offering unprecedented interpretations which would make it harder for victims of gun violence to try to hold firearms makers and sellers responsible for their part in the harms they cause. All in all, Thursday’s intervention from the Supreme Court means expanded impunity for the firearms industry—and thus the likelihood of more death and injury due to gun violence. ....