U.S. gunmakers get Supreme Court shield from Mexico’s cartel violence suit

The Supreme Court helped U.S. gun manufacturers escape legal consequences for boosting Mexican cartel violence on Thursday, reinforcing an immunity shield protecting firearm sellers from liability for harm solely caused by others.

In a unanimous ruling , the Supreme Court said Mexico could not sue American gunmakers whose guns end up in the hands of cartels. The justices didn’t doubt that manufacturers know illegal sales of their firearms take place, but found Mexico hadn’t proved that the companies participated in those sales.

“When a company merely knows that ‘some bad actors’ are taking ‘advantage’ of its products for criminal purposes, it does not aid and abet,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court. “And that is so even if the company could adopt measures to reduce their users’