Written by: Luke Wagner; Edited by: Chloe Baldauf
Early this week, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled that a $10 billion case brought forward by Mexico’s government against multiple American gun manufacturers did not violate U.S. law.
This ruling had reversed a lower court’s 2022 decision to dismiss the case for violating the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which provides gunmakers broad civil protections against lawsuits for the misuse of their products. Mexico’s lawyers argued successfully that the PLCAA does not legally shield manufacturers from their argument that the manufacturers facilitated the trafficking of weapons across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mexican Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena called the ruling “great news,” and the country’s U.S. lawyer in the case, Steve Shadowen, called it “an important step forward in holding the gun industry accountable.”
Mexican cartels have long bragged about their ability to acquire U.S. weaponry. They have not been shy to post images on social media of gang members in tactical gear posing with their military-grade firepower. Last June, the Mexican army said that it had seized 221 fully automatic machine guns, 56 grenade launchers, and a dozen rocket launchers from cartels since 2018. However, these weapons are not sold for civilian use in the United States.
On Monday, Foreign Secretary Bárcena publicly conveyed to Washington that an investigation is “very urgent” to determine how weapons that are “for the exclusive use of the U.S. army” have entered Mexico.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar confirmed Monday his awareness of the issue and that the United States is committed to working with Mexico’s Defense Department “to see what's going on.”