US court upholds Mexico’s lawsuit against North American arms manufacturers – 2024-04-02 01:36:06

In an unprecedented event, this afternoon the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in the United States, based in Boston, Massachusetts, issued a favorable appeal ruling for the Government of Mexico.

The section made up of two judges and one judge unanimously resolved that Mexico successfully demonstrated that weapons manufacturing and distributing companies do not enjoy immunity for their negligent commercial practices, which facilitate the illicit trafficking of their products to Mexico.

The Federal Court for the District of Arizona issued a ruling establishing that stores located in that state have had sufficient evidence to know that the firearms they sell end up in Mexico and that they would be used for illicit purposes there.

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In August 2021, the Government of Mexico filed a civil lawsuit for damages against companies that manufacture weapons in the United States, which due to their carelessness and negligence actively facilitate their trafficking into Mexican territory.

Already in September 2022, the first instance judge dismissed the lawsuit, considering that the immunities law called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) did protect the defendant companies even when the damage caused Due to their carelessness and negligence, it occurs in Mexican territory. Mexico presented the appeal in a timely manner.

Mexico’s lawsuit is the first that a foreign state presents against the industry in United States courts. In this afternoon’s unprecedented resolution, the Court of Appeals considered that the first instance judge incorrectly dismissed Mexico’s claim. Therefore, the Court ordered that the matter return to the first instance to continue its development.

“In the following stages, evidence will be presented to demonstrate the negligent conduct of the defendants, seeking to obtain compensation for the damage, which will be determined by the judge,” said the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

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