Historic Ruling: U.S. Court Opens Possibility For Mexico's Lawsuit Against Gun Manufacturers

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was translated and reposted from PROCESO

WRITTEN BY: J. JESÚS ESQUIVEL 

The U.S. gunmakers sued by the Mexican government have the option of asking the same Court to review the case in a plenary session composed of the 15 judges of the Court of Appeals.

WASHINGTON (apro).- The federal appeals court for the First District of the state of Massachusetts ordered a ruling that opens the possibility for the Mexican government to continue with its lawsuit against U.S. arms manufacturers, which represents a temporary victory for the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in its intention that, at the bilateral level, responsibility be assumed in the transfer of U.S. weapons and ammunition.

"The district court's judgment establishes that it reverses the opposition to the United Mexican States' claim that the PLCAA does not permit it to continue with proceedings consistent with its complaint against the arms manufacturers," the appeals court's argument states.

This victory for the Lopez Obrador administration in the U.S. courts is not the last word in the case.

The gun manufacturers sued by the Mexican government have the option of asking the same Court to review the case in a plenary session composed of the 15 judges of the Court of Appeals.

In parallel, the U.S. gunmakers, even if the Court of Appeals were to favor the Mexican government in its complaint, could appeal to the highest court in the United States.

   'The U.S. Supreme Court would be the final instance to determine the procedure in Mexico's lawsuit that asks to hold arms manufacturers responsible for empowering the drug cartels and Mexican organized crime that in recent years have bathed the country in blood."

"This is a great and historic victory for Mexico in our struggle to expose the responsibility of U.S. arms manufacturers in the violence that the country has been suffering for years," Alejandro Celorio Alcántara, legal consultant for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in charge of the lawsuit in Massachusetts, told Proceso.

The lawsuit against the U.S. gunmakers was one of the actions taken by the SRE under the direction of Marcelo Ebrard, in charge of the strategy to obtain greater cooperation from Washington to stop the flow of arms and ammunition from north to south.

In the lawsuit, Mexico accused the arms manufacturers of being indirect accomplices of organized crime by knowing that a percentage of their products are part of the chain of illicit arms trafficking to our country and not modifying their marketing policies.

In October 2022, the Boston Court had dismissed for the second time the Foreign Ministry's attempt to initiate the lawsuit, alleging that the gun manufacturers -including the giants Barrett, Beretta, Colt and Glock- operate under the protection of a law that exempts them from the damages generated with their lethal merchandise.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry appealed the decision in March of last year to the Federal Court of Appeals, which today opened the possibility that the Mexican government may continue its lawsuit.

SOURCE: PROCESO