June 6, 2022—Massachusetts’s “choice of law” rules come into question in the civil case that Mexico brought against U.S. gun manufacturers.
The Mexican government started the case against U.S. firms Smith & Wesson, Barrett Firearms, Beretta U.S.A, Colt’s Manufacturing, Glock Inc., and Century International Arms, among others. While the manufacturers are headquartered in various U.S. states, Boston, MA is a hub for the distribution of firearms.
“Defendants’ willfully blind, standardless distribution practices aid and abet the killing and maiming of children, judges, journalists, police, and ordinary citizens throughout Mexico.”
Case 1:21–cv–11269–FDS, initial filing
Cost to Mexico
The government’s attorneys filed it as a personal injury lawsuit in a federal U.S. court last August, the GER reported. The plaintiffs argued that the “Defendants’ willfully blind, standardless distribution practices aid and abet the killing and maiming of children, judges, journalists, police, and ordinary citizens throughout Mexico.”
Choice of Law
In March, the Defendants asked the court to dismiss the case, based on jurisdiction. But Mexico argues its claims of injury to its citizens and expense borne by the government are legitimate in the U.S. court based on “the substantive law of Mexico, including its tort law.”
Massachusetts’s “choice of law” rule, also referred to as the governing law clause, comes into effect when the parties come from different states. It allows the parties in the case to choose which state’s laws apply to the case.
Case Invites Comparison Of Gun Laws In U.S. And Mexico
The case invites a comparison of gun laws in the United States and Mexico.
The United States offers broad legal protections for firearm manufacturers, distributors, and sellers. A year after the U.S. Congress allowed its assault weapon ban to expire in 2004, it passed a law providing immunity from damages of harm to businesses engaged in gun sales. That law is called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).
Since that ban expired and the law protecting manufacturers came into effect, gun sales grew, as did gun violence in Mexico, according to Bill Slomanson, Professor Emeritus, Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Writing for the American Society of International Law, Slomanson asserted the following:
“The U.S. gun industry has since increased its production, distribution, and marketing of military-grade weapons. Mexican gun homicides have also dramatically increased: from 25 percent in 2004, to 69 percent as of 2018. Mexico was deluged with a horrific torrent of guns and ammunition, in a downstream “Iron River” flowing from the U.S. into Mexico.”
Mexico’s Laws
Worldwide, Mexico has the 10th highest rate of gun-related homicide, according to statistics by the Worldwide Population Review.
Meanwhile, Mexico has stricter regulations on legal gun ownership. According to the case, the government keeps a “centralized record of gun owners, requires character references for gun
purchasers, and mandates some interaction with police in the license-application process.”
Mexico argues that U.S. gun companies traffick somewhere between 342,000 and 597,000 firearms to its country each year. Its attorneys cite a U.S. Supreme Court case RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Community in asserting the Mexican government’s right to sue for violations of harm based on Mexican tort law.
Reference: For more information, see Case 1:21–cv–11269–FDS.
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