On March 26, the Federal Court for the District of Arizona, based in the city of Tucson, issued a favorable ruling for our country in its civil lawsuit against five gun stores located in that state of the American Union. It should be remembered that the Government of Mexico began this trial in October 2022, arguing that the defendant establishments, according to traceability data, facilitate the illicit flow of high-powered weapons into our territory.
Judge Rosemary Márquez was the one who handed down said ruling, which established that the defendant stores had various signs to know that the firearms they sold would end up in Mexico and that they would be used for illicit purposes. In this sense, and within the framework of the civil process, the Federal Court for the District of Arizona recognized that our country has the right to sue on its own behalf and on behalf of its population.
It should be noted that Judge Márquez also validates the Mexican side’s argument that the aforementioned establishments do not enjoy immunity for their negligent commercial practices.
This new legal victory is added to that obtained by the Mexican Government itself, last January, when the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in the United States, based in Boston, Massachusetts, also determined that various weapons manufacturing companies in that country did not They enjoy immunity for their negligent business practices. It should be remembered that in August 2021, the Government of our country filed a first civil lawsuit against weapons manufacturing companies before the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
The aforementioned Court of Appeals then ordered to review the merits of the matter again in the first instance for the procedures consistent with that resolution.
The difference between the 2021 lawsuit and that of 2022 is that the first is against arms producers, while the second is against arms distributors.
But returning to the case at hand, it is appropriate to point out that, after the decision of March 26, the Federal Court for the District of Arizona can continue hearing the lawsuit filed by the Government of Mexico. According to information from the Foreign Ministry of our country, what proceeds now is the presentation of evidence to demonstrate the negligent conduct of the defendant stores, seeking to obtain compensation for the damage, which will be determined by the judging person.
The defendants have the right to appeal Judge Márquez’s decision; However, Mexico will continue to defend its interests and those of its population, as there is no shortage of arguments. Suffice it to say that 70 percent of the weapons confiscated in our country (50 thousand, since December 2018) came from the United States.
According to the Mexican federal government, the arms manufacturers sued in August 2021 together produce more than 68 percent of the American weapons trafficked into our territory, which is equivalent to between 342,000 and 597,000 weapons each year.
The same ambassador of the American Union in Mexico, Ken Salazar, recognized that 70 percent of the weapons used in violent crimes committed by organized crime in our nation come from the neighboring country.
Fortunately, there is collaboration between both nations to combat illicit arms trafficking, such as the High Level Security Dialogue between Mexico and the United States, or the Working Group on Arms Trafficking of the Bicentennial Understanding.
The favorable ruling for Mexico by the Federal Court for the District of Arizona, in order to advance the trial against five weapons distribution stores, is in itself important. It recognizes not only that these establishments do not enjoy immunity from their negligent business practices, but that our country has the right to sue on its own behalf and on behalf of its population. Therefore, this ruling is a new and important legal victory against illicit arms trafficking.
ricardomonreala@yahoo.com.mx
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