Mexico sues US gun manufacturers over arms trafficking
The Mexican government has sued some of the biggest US gun manufacturers, accusing them of fuelling bloodshed through reckless business practices.
The lawsuit alleges that the companies knew they were contributing to illegal arms trafficking, which has been linked to many deaths.
Officials say Mexico is seeking as much as $10bn (£7.2bn) in compensation, though any amount would be decided by the court.
They include Smith & Wesson and Barrett Firearms, among others. The BBC has contacted both companies for comment.
The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in the US state of Massachusetts.
The gun manufacturers “are conscious of the fact that their products are trafficked and used in illicit activities against the civilian population and authorities of Mexico”, the Foreign Ministry said in a document related to the lawsuit.
Mexico said the companies had used “marketing strategies to promote weapons that are ever more lethal, without mechanisms of security or traceability”.
Note the section in bold.
The core premise of the Sandy Hook lawsuit was over Remington/Bushmaster’s marketing. That was how they ran around the PLCAA.
The Mexican Government is using the exact same argument that Remington just gave credence to by settling with the Sandy Hook families.
I said this was going to bite us in the ass and it just did in a very big way.
According to a Mexican government statement, criminal organizations buy thousands of pistols, rifles, assault weapons and ammunition in supermarkets, on the internet and at arms fairs in the US which are then used to commit crimes in Mexico.
The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found that 70% of firearms recovered in Mexico between 2014 and 2018 which were submitted for tracing had come from the US
Mexican officials stressed that the lawsuit was not aimed at the US government. Mr Ebrard said he believed that President Joe Biden’s administration was willing to work with Mexico to curb arms trafficking.
This is insane horseshit.
When Biden was Vice President of the Obama Administration, Obama had Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious traffic guns into Mexico in the hands of the cartels.
Mexico is suing gunmakers in the US because guns were smuggled into Mexico, and the guy that did the smuggling was the boss of our current President, who Mexico is not suing and is in fact praising.
The civilian guns obtained and smuggled into Mexico are obtained the same way US gangs get guns, overwhelmingly through straw purchases or stolen. Of course, the PLCAA protects gun manufactures from liability under these conditions. But the Sandy Hook lawsuit was crafted to get around that and now that it was quasi-successful, Mexico is going to march right in and crush the firearms industry.
Do you honestly think that the Biden Administration or the State of Massachusetts is going to try and stop the corrupt government of a failed narco-state from bankrupting the firearms industry with a bullshit lawsuit?
I’m pretty sure Merrick Garland is having his staffers work on an Amicus brief on Mexico’s behalf right now.
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