U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled sympathy toward a bid by two American gun companies to throw out the Mexican government's lawsuit accusing them of aiding illegal firearms trafficking to drug cartels and fueling gun violence in the southern neighbor of the United States.
The justices heard arguments in an appeal by U.S. firearms maker Smith & Wesson and distributor Interstate Arms of a lower court's ruling that the lawsuit could proceed on the grounds that Mexico has plausibly alleged that the companies aided and abetted illegal gun sales, harming its government.
The gun companies have argued that they have done nothing more than make and sell lawful products.
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked Catherine Stetson, the lawyer arguing for Mexico, to address the argument by the gun companies that Mexico's theory of liability risked threatening the U.S. economy.
