*Mexico is suing several U.S.-based gun manufacturers for “actively facilitating the unlawful trafficking of their guns to drug cartels,” NBC News reports.
Here’s more from the report:
The lawsuit alleges that units of Smith & Wesson, Barrett Firearms, Colt’s Manufacturing Company, Glock Inc, Sturm, Ruger & Co and others knew their business practices had encouraged illegal arms trafficking into Mexico.
The lawsuit cites weapons that had entered Mexico used in notorious shootings, noting that Colt’s .38-caliber “Emiliano Zapata 1911” pistol is engraved with the image of the Mexican revolutionary, and is a status symbol coveted by drug cartels.
“What’s the objective? That the companies in question compensate Mexico’s government for the damage caused by their negligent practices,” Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said at a news conference about the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
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“For decades, the government and its citizens have been victimized by a deadly flood of military-style and other particularly lethal guns that flows from the U.S. across the border,” the lawsuit argues.
As written by Complex:
Before filing its lawsuit, Mexican officials said they spent two years reviewing similar suits against U.S. gun makers for negligent behavior. In June, Remington Arms Co., the oldest gun manufacturer in the U.S., offered a settlement of $33 million to the families of victims in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting after it was discovered that gunman Adam Lanza used the Remington Bushmaster XM-15 rifle to kill 26 people before turning the weapon on himself.
“The Mexican government is responsible for the rampant crime and corruption within their own borders,” Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF’s senior vice president, said in a statement.
“There are efforts that seem to be making some headway to make the gun industry and manufacturers in particular divulge records about how they think about marketing, distribution and sale practices,” said Timothy Lytton, a professor at the Georgia State University College of Law.
According to the lawsuit, over 500,000 guns are trafficked annually from the United States into Mexico.
Mexico is seeking an estimated $10 billion in damages.
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