Mexico Sues U.S. Gun Firms for ‘Abetting’ Cartel Violence
The suit claims weapons sales by U.S. gun manufacturers south of the border have "substantially reduced the life expectancy of Mexican citizens and cost the (Mexican) government billions of dollars a year."
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The Mexican government has filed a federal complaint in Massachusetts against Interstate Arms Corp. and more than a half dozen other U.S. gun manufacturers or retailers, claiming that the “defendants’ willfully blind, standard-less distribution practices aid and abet the killing and maiming of children, judges, journalists, police, and ordinary citizens throughout Mexico” and that their “unlawful conduct has substantially reduced the life expectancy of Mexican citizens and cost the Government billions of dollars a year,” reports the Courthouse News Service. Along with Interstate, the defendants named are Springfield, Massachusetts-headquartered Smith & Wesson; Barrett Firearms; Beretta USA; Colt’s Manufacturing; Glock Inc.; Sturm, Ruger & Co.; and Century International Arms.
The government claims that up to 90 percent of all guns recovered at Mexican crime scenes were trafficked from the U.S., arguing that the gunmakers’ activities violated Connecticut and Massachusetts consumer protection laws. The 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) says gunmakers cannot be held responsible for the misuse of their products, but Mexico argues the law is of no help to the defendants in this case because “every aspect of PLCAA confirms that the U.S. Congress enacted that statute with only U.S. domestic concerns in mind.” The complaint seeks an injunction that would make the gun companies “abate and remedy the public nuisance they have created in Mexico,” and it asks them to fund research into stopping the trafficking of firearms, adding safety features to their firearms, and adopt standards “to reasonably monitor and discipline their distribution systems.” Mexico also seeks punitive damages and disgorgement of the gun-makers’ profits.
