This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The Supreme Court has signaled it likely will end Mexico's demands, through the American court system, that multiple gunmakers in the U.S. pay it billions and billions of dollars.

It demanded, in a lawsuit brought in the state of Massachusetts, that seven major U.S. gun manufacturers and a gun wholesaler be held responsible financially for the horrific death toll from the drug cartel warfare that has engulfed parts of Mexico now for a generation.

A report at Scotusblog, which monitors, reports on, and analyzes Supreme Court actions, said the justices on Tuesday "signaled" they were likely to end Mexico's claims.

"A majority of the court appeared to agree with the gun makers that the Mexican government's suit is barred by a 2005 law intended to shield the gun industry from lawsuits in U.S. courts for the misuse of guns by others," the report said.

Mexican officials had demanded not just billions of dollars but "an end to the marketing and trafficking of illegal guns to Mexico."

Those officials have made claims that American gun makers "deliberately" designed guns knowing that military-style machines will be appealing to drug cartel members. Then, the officials claimed, gunmakers sell their weapons to gun dealers, who sell them to gun buyers, who act as "strawmen" for delivery of guns in Mexico.

It ended up at the Supreme Court after the 1st Circuit noted Mexico's claims that gunmakers "aided and abetted illegal sales."

Lawyer Noel Francisco told the justices on behalf of the gunmakers that "when Congress enacted the law at the center of the case, the Protecting Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, it intended to 'prohibit lawsuits just like this one"" the report explained.

A representative for the Mexican government claimed that the lawsuit should be allowed to go forward.

At issue is whether gun makers helped cartels violate U.S. gun laws and whether the resulting injuries were the responsibility of the gunmakers.

The report said Justice Neil Gorsuch pointed out that for a violation to have occurred, the gun makers had to have intended to do that.

"Other justices questioned whether Mexico had provided enough details in its complaint for its case to move forward," the report noted.

Even leftists on the panel, including Ketanji Jackson and Elena Kagan, expressed doubts about the legitimacy of Mexico's case.

It was left to Justice Samuel Alito to cite the elephant in the room, President Donald Trump's insistence that Mexico do more to prevent the flow of illegal drugs into America, a dispute that has triggered tariffs already.

In this case, he said, Mexico alleges that U.S. gun manufacturers are contributing to illegal conduct in Mexico. But he noted there are "Americans who think that Mexican government officials are contributing to a lot of illegal conduct" in the United States.

Then, he wondered, should a U.S. state sue Mexico in a U.S. court for "aiding and abetting illegal conduct within the state's borders" that causes harm?

A report at Courthouse News suggested that "Mexico received little sympathy from the Supreme Court" in the dispute.

Defendants include Smith & Wesson Brands, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Beretta U.S.A. Corp, Glock, Sturm, Ruger & Company and Colt's Manufacturing Company.