Mexico City, Mexico — Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is participating in a hearing in the Supreme Court of the United States. Mexico is moving forward with its lawsuits filed against U.S. gun manufacturers and stores.
Pablo Arrocha, the legal advisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says the team representing Mexico is ready to participate in the March 4 Supreme Court hearing. It is one of two hearings.
The lawsuits filed in the United States against gun manufacturers and stores are moving forward. He said the Mexican government has scenarios for any type of outcome.
He said the March 4 hearing is part of the lawsuits filed by the Mexican government against arms manufacturers in a federal court in Boston, Massachusetts. Both lawsuits involve strategic litigation and are the spearhead of a process that could allow for much broader legal strategies in the future, he said.
Regarding the litigation that is being carried out in the Tucson, Arizona court against five gun stores, he stated that it is progressing favorably for Mexico with a new stage to gather evidence.
“The district judge who is hearing this case has already started a new stage, which in the United States is known as discovery, which is basically the gathering of evidence to get to the bottom of the case and we are already in this gathering stage,” he said.
The legal consultant explained that the lawsuits filed by the Mexican government seek to obtain greater controls on the sale of weapons in the United States that will reduce or prevent the flow of illegal weapons as well as contribute to a change of narrative among the American population.
Following the instructions of Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente, the legal consultant said that he maintains constant communication with the president of Global Action Against Gun Violence, Jonathan Lowy, and lawyer Steve Shadowen, legal representatives of Mexico in these two lawsuits.
He reported that these are the first two cases involving manufacturers, distributors and points of sale, and he considered that this will allow this gap to be opened in order to continue, later, with an expansion towards other points of sale.
In the case of the hearing to be held at the Court, he reported that nine briefs have been submitted by “friends of the court” – amicus curiae – representing a diversity of voices from civil society in Mexico and the United States, states and American authorities, which add to the position and arguments presented by Mexico, which will have a positive impact on this effort.
Within the framework of a comprehensive plan that goes beyond strategic litigation, the legal consultant highlighted the need to achieve social changes to end the gun culture and underlined the efforts of President Claudia Sheinbaum, through the program “Yes to disarmament, yes to peace”, not only as a strategy to destroy weapons but to keep girls and boys away from war toys and allow them to grow up in a playful environment free of violence.
The legal consultant said that the Mexican government will continue to strengthen its comprehensive strategy to combat illicit arms trafficking, exploring all legal avenues at its disposal at the national, regional and global levels to reduce the flow of these products that contribute to generating violence in our country.
