Lawfare Daily: Mexican Cartels and American Guns

The Lawfare Podcast

The Lawfare Institute

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4.7 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

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Summary

The Supreme Court recently held oral arguments in the case of Mexico v. Smith & Wesson, a groundbreaking case brought by the government of Mexico that seeks to hold U.S. gun manufacturers accountable for cartels' use of American weapons to perpetrate violence in Mexico. On today's episode, Executive Editor Natalie Orpett talked with Jonathan Lowy, an attorney at Global Action on Gun Violence, who represents the government of Mexico in the suit, and Chantal Flores, a freelance journalist who has focused on Mexican cartels and has written about the case. They discussed the flow of U.S.-made guns into Mexico, how it relates to cartel violence, and the complicated legal and policy context around Mexico’s case.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast contains advertising.
0:04.4	To access an ad-free version of the Lawfare podcast, become a material supporter of Lawfare at
0:11.5	patreon.com slash lawfare. That's patreon.com slash lawfare.
0:18.2	Also, check out Lawfare's other podcast offerings, Rational Security, Chatter, Lawfare No Bull,
0:26.9	and The Aftermath.
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1:00.3	Manufacturers knowingly violate gun laws by deliberately supplying gun dealers and gun sales practices that they know are illegal and supply
1:17.9	traffickers for the cartels and cause harm to Mexico.
1:22.4	It's the Lawfare podcast.
1:24.8	I'm Natalie Orpet, executive editor of lawfare, with Jonathan Lowy,
1:29.3	an attorney at Global Action on Gun Violence, and Chantal Flores, a journalist who has focused
1:35.2	on cartel violence in Mexico. It's hard for me to believe that Mexico will win this, but I think there's a lot to do after this lawsuit, right? It opens
1:50.2	a space for further discussion on how to keep the U.S. gun industry accountable.
1:58.5	Today we're talking about Mexico v. Smith & Wesson, a lawsuit that the Mexican government
2:03.6	has brought against U.S. gun manufacturers. We talk about the flow of U.S. made guns into Mexico,
2:10.1	how it relates to cartel violence, and the complicated legal and policy context around Mexico's case.
2:17.3	Okay, so John and Chantal, I have asked you on today to talk about a really interesting
	...

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