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Accountability for U.S. gun manufacturers has been hard to come by. Thanks to a new court ruling, it’s now a step closer, and from perhaps a surprising source: Mexico.
The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday removed a roadblock to the country’s $10 billion lawsuit against U.S. gunmakers, deciding that it’s not barred by a federal law that insulates the firearms industry. Global Action on Gun Violence said it’s the first such ruling to uphold the right of a sovereign country to sue the industry.
The appeals court noted that Mexico has strict gun laws but that gun violence increased there after the U.S. ended its assault weapon ban in 2004. Mexico’s complaint — against seven manufacturers and one distributor — details “a steady and growing stream of illegal gun trafficking from the United States into Mexico, motivated in large part by the demand of the Mexican drug cartels for military-style weapons,” the ruling observed. In turn, Mexico says it has suffered increased costs for medical, mental health and other services for victims and their families; increased costs for law enforcement and its judicial system; and diminished property values and business revenues.
The three-judge panel ruling, written by Barack Obama appointee William Kayatta, concluded that Mexico’s complaint “adequately alleges that defendants aided and abetted the knowingly unlawful downstream trafficking of their guns into Mexico.” Yet the landmark decision doesn’t end the matter, even if it’s upheld on any further appeal by the manufacturers. Monday’s ruling points out that whether Mexico can prove its allegations at a potential trial “remains to be seen.”
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