More than a decade ago, Mexican officials erected a billboard along the border in Ciudad Juárez, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso.
“No More Weapons,” was the stern statement, written in English and made from three tons of seized and crushed firearms.
It was a frantic plea to U.S. officials to stop the so-called Iron River, the southward flow of guns that was driving unprecedented levels of violence in Mexico.
But the guns kept coming, and the bloodshed and mayhem escalated.
Finally, with killings at an all-time high, irritated officials devised a novel strategy: Mexico filed a $10 billion lawsuit in U.S. federal court, aiming to hold Smith & Wesson and other signature makers liable for the country’s pandemic of gun deaths.
The arduous campaign against the powerful gun lobby survived an appeals court challenge, but last week the United States Supreme Court dismissed Mexico’s complaint, saying unanimously that federal law protects gun manufacturers from nearly all culpability.
Although the litigation languished, activists say the high-profile attempt accomplished a crucial goal: emphasizing the role of Made-in-the-USA weapons in Mexico’s daily drumbeat of assassinations, massacres, and disappearances.
“Notwithstanding the Supreme Court ruling, Mexico’s lawsuit has accomplished a great deal,” said Jonathan Lowy, president of Global Action on Gun Violence, a Washington-based advocacy group.
“It has put the issue of gun trafficking — and the industry’s role in facilitating the gun pipeline — on the bilateral and international agenda,” said Lowy, who co-counseled Mexico in its complaint.
A few hours after the high court verdict, Ronald Johnson, the US ambassador in Mexico City, wrote on X that the White House was committed to working with Mexico “to stop southbound arms trafficking and dismantle networks fueling cartel violence.”
According to President Claudia Sheinbaum, the words signal the first time that Washington has acknowledged a reciprocal responsibility to crack down on southbound weapons, after strong-arming Mexico to reduce northbound fentanyl and other illicit narcotics trafficking. She called it a long-awaited breakthrough.
“This is not just about bringing narcotics from Mexico into the United States,” Sheinbaum said Friday. “But that there [must] also be no passage of arms from the United States to Mexico.”
According to Sheinbaum, Mexico is considering its options following the Supreme Court’s decision. A related complaint filed by Mexico in a federal court in the United States accusing five gun dealers in Arizona of trafficking firearms and ammo to the cartels remains ongoing.
