From civil organizations to legal experts, 13 United States entities and the governments of Antigua & Bermuda and Belize support the lawsuit of the Mexican Government against arms producers and ask Judge Dennis Saylor to reject the petition of the defendants to dismiss the civil complaint.
The support occurs after the hearing scheduled for 27 of January, where the judge would make a decision on the request of the eight companies and that the Mexican Government withdraw from the lawsuit against Glock, Inc. and Baretta Holdings SPA.
However, organizations such as Everytown for Gun Safety and the Latin American and Caribbean Network for Human Security (SEHLAC), as well as the governments of Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Oregon state that the lawsuit raises real concerns about how the defendant companies have contributed to gun violence.
“As Amici… we have a primary interest in preserving all legal tools, including statutory and common law remedies for unlawful conduct, to deter gun violence within our borders,” the states indicate in a document issued to the Massachusetts District Court.
They point out that the interpretation of the defendants – that they have no responsibility over who buys weapons – is a “simple interpretation” of the Law for the Protection of the Lawful Trade in Arms (PLCAA, for its acronym in English) and although they recognize the possibility that the judge may decide that Mexico does not have jurisdiction to uphold the lawsuit, they consider that their arguments about the performance of the production companies are valid.
“Even if this Court were to conclude, contrary to Mexico’s argument, that the PLCAA applies extraterritorially, the statute would not preclude the claims raised here”, it is noted.
The states defend their right to claims for the effects of violence caused by weapons and violations of state regulations.
“The PLCAA, therefore, does not impede Mexico’s lawsuit”, indicate the states. “And a decision to the contrary … would give rise to serious concerns about the Tenth Amendment.”
It should be remembered that the Tenth Amendment allows the states to establish legislation not prohibited in the Constitution.
Respect for life
The organization Everytown for Gun Safety emphasizes that the defense of Defendants try to show the Mexican lawsuit as a kind of invasion of US values, in reference to the Second Amendment, but they consider that the lawsuit focuses on the “defense of life”.
“They do not mention our shared values: respect for human life and the desire to live free from armed violence”, states the document that supports the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “The defendants threaten these shared values by designing, marketing and selling their weapons in a way that funnels them to drug cartels in Mexico.”
A group of professors in transnational law also supports Mexico and rejects the position of the arms producers that that country does not have jurisdiction for litigation in the US
“International law recognizes the authority of a state to apply its law to conduct outside its territory that causes substantial effects within its territory”, indicate the group of 13 experts, including George A. Bermann, of the European Union Law; Pamela Bookman of Law at Fordham University School of Law, and William S. Dodge of the University of California.
Other governments
Support for Mexico also comes from the governments of Antigua & Barbuda and Belize, nations of the Caribbean. Its document is issued with the support of SEHLAC, which coordinates a coalition of civil organizations on international humanitarian law in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
“Violent crime has seriously damaged LAC nations and their citizens, especially in recent years,” the document indicates. “A substantial portion of this violence has been perpetrated using firearms illegally trafficked from the United States.”
The argument adds that the nations that make up the FTA, in which Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru also participate, have sought to “end this illegal arms trade”.
“ The illegal trade in US firearms must be reduced at its source: the US arms industry. “One nation’s arms manufacturers and distributors must not be allowed to take hostage the law-abiding citizens of an entire region of the world.”
A new hearing on the judicial process has not yet been scheduled, but it is possible that Judge Saylor will allow the parties to explain their arguments, something that the plaintiffs had requested.
Mexico has achieved international support against arms trafficking, as marked by the signing of an agreement in the United Nations Security Council last November, as well as the position of the Government of President Joe Biden to toughen the fight against this problem, through the new plan against organized crime, known as the Bicentennial Understanding.