May Defensive Gun Uses Show Mexican Government’s Folly

Last week, in a unanimous opinion in a case called Smith & Wesson v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, the Supreme Court tossed out a lawsuit filed by the Mexican government against seven major U.S. gun manufacturers, seeking to hold them civilly liable for billions of dollars in damages stemming from gun violence committed in Mexico with the manufacturers’ firearms. The court held that a 2005 federal statute prohibits Mexico—or anyone else—from bringing these types of lawsuits in the first place.  

The Mexican government has long sought to avoid taking responsibility for the nation’s corruption-fueled and cartel-driven violence woes, including by erroneously casting the violence as an “American gun problem.” In short, the lawsuit was little more than an attempt by a foreign government to interfere with American gun policy and undermine the Second Amendment rights of American citizens. 

Instead of villainizing the right to keep and bear arms, Mexico should consider taking it far more seriously as a means of enabling its own citizens to defend themselves against criminal violence.  

Every major study has found that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times annually, according to the most recent report on the subject from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2021, a professor at the Georgetown McDonough School of Business conducted the most comprehensive study ever on the issue and concluded that roughly 1.6 million defensive gun uses occur in the United States every year. 

For this reason, The Daily Signal publishes a monthly article highlighting some of the previous month’s many news stories on defensive gun use that you may have missed—or that might not have made it to the national spotlight in the first place. (Read accounts from past months and years here.) 

The examples below represent only a small portion of the news stories on defensive gun use during crimes that we found in May. You may explore more by using The Heritage Foundation’s interactive Defensive Gun Use Database. 

• May 1, Austin, Texas: An intoxicated man showed up to his girlfriend’s place of employment, argued with her outside of the business, then left. When he returned a short time later and started banging on the business’s doors, a bystander tried to intervene. The man pulled out a knife and threatened the bystander, who drew a gun and fatally shot the man. Multiple witnesses confirmed the order of events and police didn’t charge the armed bystander.  

• May 5, Muskegon Heights, Michigan: An off-duty police officer was injured during a shootout with a wanted felon after the officer intervened to handle a disturbance on his way to work. The wanted gunman fled the scene, but minutes later began shooting at passing vehicles from the porch of a nearby home. A resident inside the home exchanged gunfire with the felon, wounding him and causing him to flee. The felon’s crime spree ended when he pointed a gun at responding police officers, who fatally shot him. The police officer wounded in the initial shootout was treated at a hospital and released.  

• May 7, Greece, New York: Less than two weeks after successfully robbing a convenience store at gunpoint, an armed teen returned to the scene of his crime to rob the store again. Unfortunately for the robber, the store’s legally armed owner was present this time. The robber fled after being wounded during an exchange of gunfire with the armed owner, who wasn’t injured. Responding officers quickly located the bleeding suspect and rendered first aid. The teen now faces charges for both armed robberies.   

• May 11, Rose Hill, North Carolina: A homeowner fatally shot an ax-wielding man who, while armed with other unspecified weapons, tried to break through the home’s back door. Local prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges against the homeowner. 

• May 13, Spokane, Washington: Police say that an armed dog-walker intervened during a mass stabbing attack in an apartment complex, fatally shooting a knife-wielding man who’d already attacked multiple victims. The knifeman first tried to stab a woman in a hallway, but another tenant pulled her into an apartment, saving her from injury. The knifeman then fatally stabbed a different resident before walking through the complex, where he encountered the dogwalker and ran at him. The dog-walker drew a gun and fired in self-defense before the knifeman could harm him or anyone else.  

• May 18, Fort Myers, Florida: A local sheriff praised the actions of bystanders who intervened to protect the public when a man intentionally drove into a crowd of people in a driveway, striking three victims with his car. Two witnesses shot at the driver, hitting him in the shoulder and preventing him from harming anyone else. Other witnesses then tackled the driver as he tried to flee and held him down until the police arrived. The driver has been charged with three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.  

• May 20, Peoria, Arizona: After employees of a sports bar threw out an aggressive and intoxicated patron, the man retrieved a handgun from his car and fired shots into the air and at the bar, injuring one victim. Two armed men sitting on a nearby park bench tried to intervene and the gunman pointed his weapon at them. During an ensuing gun battle, the armed bystanders fatally shot the perpetrator. Neither of the armed bystanders were injured, and a local police spokesman commended them for protecting a bar full of innocent people.  

• May 21, Colorado Springs, Colorado: A would-be burglar accidentally triggered a home’s security alarm after breaking into the garage and alerting the homeowner, who armed himself before confronting the burglar and holding him at gunpoint until police arrived. The suspect, who already had active warrants for pending felony and misdemeanor cases, now faces additional charges related to the burglary, as well as for possessing controlled substances. 

• May 23, Chicago, Illinois: During a verbal argument, a man and a woman began physically assaulting a female victim, hitting her hard enough to cause bruising to her face. The victim drew her lawfully owned gun and shot at her assailants, striking the woman twice. Police arrested both the man and woman for the initial assault of the female victim.   

• May 27, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Two armed men entered a Dunkin’ Donuts and attempted to rob both the store and individual customers. One of the customers, however, was also armed and opened fire at the robbers, killing one and sending the other fleeing.  

• May 28, Seattle, Washington: Police say that a teen gunman riding a bicycle—assisted by several accomplices on scooters—blocked a group of youths before shooting at them, spraying bullets that wounded two of the targeted victims and endangered countless residents in surrounding condos and hotels. An armed bystander, who police say was a former law enforcement officer, shot and killed the teen gunman. Several area residents told reporters that the teen’s weapon seemed to be illegally modified to fire in rapid bursts, and that things could’ve turned out much worse had the armed bystander not ended the threat so quickly.  

As these examples demonstrate, the right to keep and bear arms is a powerful tool that enables ordinary people to defend their unalienable rights when the government can’t or won’t be there to do it for them. Sadly, given Mexico’s incredibly restrictive gun laws, most ordinary Mexicans cannot say the same. 

The Mexican government has chosen to impose as many barriers as possible between its citizens and their practical ability to exercise their natural right of self-defense. But instead of blaming the lawful American gun industry for its cartel problem, the Mexican government should consider taking a page from our playbook and allowing its people to defend themselves, too. 

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