By John Fritze, CNN

(CNN) — The Supreme Court on Thursday tossed out a lawsuit from the Mexican government that alleged American gun manufacturers should be held responsible for cartel violence on the Southwest border, a decision that shields the companies from a suit that had claimed billions in damages.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote the opinion for a unanimous court explaining why the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which allows suits to go forward if they’re based on an underlying violation of a state or federal law, doesn’t allow the suit against Mexico to proceed.

Mexico’s lawsuit, Kagan wrote, “does not plausibly allege” that the gunmakers aided and abetted gun dealers’ unlawful sales of their firearms to Mexican traffickers.

“In asserting that the manufacturers intentiona

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