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WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, celebrates the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous 9-0 decision that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PCLAA) bars Mexico’s claims that firearm manufacturers “aided and abetted” illegal firearms trafficking to narco-terrorist drug cartels in Mexico.

“This is a tremendous victory for the firearm industry and the rule of law. For too long, gun control activists have attempted to twist basic tort law to malign the highly-regulated U.S. firearm industry with the criminal actions of violent organized crime, both here in the United States and abroad,” said NSSF’s Lawrence G. Keane, Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “The firearm industry is sympathetic to plight of those in Mexico who are victims of rampant and uncontrolled violence at the hands of narco-terrorist drug cartels. The firearm industry works closely with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to prevent the illegal straw purchasing of firearms and the illegal transnational smuggling of firearms. This unequivocal decision by the Supreme Court that PLCAA applies and there is no evidence whatsoever that U.S. manufacturers are in any way responsible is verification of commitment to responsible firearm ownership.”

The Court wrote in the unanimous decision, “Recall that Congress enacted the statute to halt a flurry of lawsuits attempting to make gun manufacturers pay for the downstream harms resulting from misuse of their products. Read more

NEW ORLEANS – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced the filing of an important legal brief urging the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a lower court’s decision dismissing the government’s case against someone charged with violating the federal ban on machine guns, ultimately holding that the ban cannot pass muster under the Second Amendment. FPC joined FPC Action Foundation (FPCAF) and the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) as parties to the brief.

“Heller already explored the relevant history and found that the only way to ban possession of a firearm is by demonstrating that it is ‘dangerous and unusual’ and therefore unprotected by the Second Amendment,” the brief explains. “Because the government did not demonstrate that machineguns are unusual it has not met its burden.”

“The Fifth Circuit should fully and faithfully apply the Supreme Court’s controlling Second Amendment test. The government did not meet its burden in this case, and the district court’s dismissal should be affirmed,” said FPC President Brandon Combs.

“The weapons at issue here are unquestionably bearable ‘arms,’ so the Court must perform the required historical inquiry. At that point, the relevant question is if machineguns are in common use for lawful purposes today,” explained attorney and FPCAF President Cody J. Wisniewski. “We hope the Fifth Circuit will consider the relevant history and affirm the district court’s decision.” Read more