Momentum is building — and Global Action on Gun Violence is at the center of it all. This month, we helped shape the future of gun industry accountability at a major symposium on the unique and unjust law that shields the gun industry from many lawsuits;pushed the Supreme Court to reverse its misguided Second Amendment rulings;and helped persuade the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to issue a landmark advisory opinion on firearms manufacturers' human rights responsibilities.
GAGV is the only gun violence prevention group taking these bold stands.Thank you for making this work possible. Read on for the full stories!
Sincerely, Jon Lowy Founder & President
P.S. Donate now to help Global Action on Gun Violence win in the Supreme Court!
A Global Front Against Gun Trafficking: The Inter-American Court Weighs In
GAGV's fight to stop the crime gun pipeline and hold the gun industry accountable for the devastating flow of U.S. guns and ammunition into Mexico has always been multi-pronged — and that strategy is paying off on the international stage.
OnMarch 5, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a groundbreaking advisory opinion on the obligations of states to prevent illicit arms trafficking, responding to a request Mexico filed in November 2022.GAGV was the only gun violence prevention group to file a brief and testify at a hearing in Costa Rica in support of Mexico’s request for an opinion.
The opinion is the first from an international human rights court to address the gun industry’s responsibility for contributing to gun violence, and the obligation of countries to prevent irresponsible gun industry practices and to allow victims of gun industry negligence to hold bad actors in the industry accountable for harm they cause. These holdings are at the core of GAGV’s theory of change — they work outside of U.S. politics to pressure necessary reforms to stop the gun industry from supplying the crime gun pipeline.
Although the Court could only state general principles of international human rights law that did not specifically apply to any specific countries, those principles plainly recognize that the U.S. has an obligation to stop the gun industry’s supply of traffickers arming criminals in Mexico, Haiti, Jamaica, Canada and the region. The vast majority of guns recovered at crime scenes in all of these countries are trafficked from the United States.
Notably, the Court also held that countries are required to ensure effective judicial remediation for victims of both governments and third parties that neglect their human rights obligations under international law – which suggests that the U.S. may be in breach of international law for specially shielding the gun industry from accountability through the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Law (PLCAA).The opinion will be a powerful tool in GAGV’s continuing work to put pressure on multiple legal and diplomatic fronts simultaneously.
The opinion sends a powerful message: thereckless practices of bad actors in the gun industry aren't just a domestic issue — they're a human rights crisis. We will continue fighting on every front to hold bad actors in the industry accountable.
For over 200 years,U.S. courts universally recognized that the Framers wrote what they meant in the Second Amendment: it was only intended to protect the “well-regulated Militia” that was “necessary to the security of a free State.” But since 2008, the Supreme Court has ignored thatintended meaning and misread the Second Amendment as broadly embracing private gun rights that have nothing to do with state militias.
Worse, the Court then held that gun laws are unconstitutional unless they have a historical analogue from the 18thor 19thcentury – which prevents courts from focusing on the 21st centurypublic safety needs of strong gun laws.
We just released a short video explainer on how the U.S. Supreme Court has gotten the Second Amendment so wrong — and we want you to watch it! This is the first in a series of explainers we are producing on guns, gun trafficking, and the role that the U.S. gun industry plays in gun violence domestically and around the world. Watch for more to come!
If you’re interested in a deeper dive, read Lowy’s latest article on how the current United States v. Hemani case being heard by the Court exposes the flaws in current Second Amendment jurisprudence. And follow Jon on Substack!
Momentum Growing to End the Gun Industry Immunity Law
On February 6th, GAGV legal scholars, advocates, and policymakers gathered for the "Challenging Gun Industry Immunity" symposiumco-hosted by the William & Mary Law Review and the Duke Center for Firearms Law.
The purpose was to examine one of the gun violence prevention movement's most pressing legal roadblocks: Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), the 2005 federal law that has long shielded the gun industry from accountability.
Lowy joined fellow panelists to discuss future developments with PLCAA — including emerging litigation strategies, legislative opportunities, and the legal arguments that may ultimately chip away at the industry's broad immunity protections.
The symposium demonstratesthat momentum is growing in legal and academic circles to call into questionthescope and consequences of PLCAA.As more cases like Mexico's unprecedented lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers are brought, events like this help shape the future of efforts to hold the gun industry accountable for the harm it enables.
Lowy presented on a forthcoming article he co-wrote with GAGV Senior Counsel Jake Steisel and Center for Constitutional Litigation President Robert Peck that argues that PLCAA unconstitutionally violates the Tenth Amendment and exceeds Congress’s Commerce Clause authority.
Essays from the symposium will be published in a special edition of the William & Mary Law Review later this year!
Follow Jon Lowy on Substack!
Are you looking for a deep divegun policy issues facing the United States and the Americas today? Do you want the unvarnished perspective of one of the country’s leading legal experts on gun violence prevention?
Check out Lowy’s new Substack, where he recently explained the unique opportunity for progress and bipartisan cooperation on gun violence prevention that has emerged in the wake of Immigration and Customs Services' (ICE) killing of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti for exercising his right to bear arms.
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