Mexico's lawsuit marches on against US gun manufacturers

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO CITY (AA) - Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced Friday that the Mexican government will hold an appeal hearing against US gun manufacturers later this month after a federal judge initially dismissed its lawsuit last September.

The government filed a lawsuit in August 2021 against US major gun companies, holding them responsible for increasing violence in the country. It said drug cartels and criminal organizations in Mexico use US weapons to terrorize the Mexican population.

Ebrard said the government will hold oral arguments in the case at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in the US state of Massachusetts.

"The appeal hearing in the lawsuit against the US arms industry will take place on July 24. Fewer guns there for fewer deaths and violence here is the goal. Mexico will prevail because it is right," Ebrard wrote on Twitter.

The government presented an appeal on March 14 against a US federal district court judge’s ruling in the American city of Boston, which dismissed the case Sept. 30.

The judge said the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), passed in 2005, grants immunity to gun manufacturers for the misuse or crimes committed by their products.

Mexico appealed the decision.

"There is a correlation between the negligent practices of companies and the arms trafficking that leads to violence in Mexico, as well as other crimes such as human trafficking and drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl," it said in a statement.

The gun manufacturers sued by Mexico are Smith & Wesson, Barrett Firearms, Beretta, Century International, Colt's Manufacturing, Glock, Sturm, Ruger & Co and Witmer.