Mexico Files Lawsuit Against 11 Gun Manufacturers

Yesterday, Mexico filed a lawsuit against 11 gun manufacturers over firearms that flow from the United States across the border and into criminal hands in Mexico. According to the complaint “the flood is not a natural phenomenon or an inevitable consequence of the gun business or of U.S. gun laws. It is the foreseeable result of the defendants deliberate actions and business practices.” Included in the suit are major brands such as Smith & Wesson, Colt and Glock. The complaint was filed in a U.S. federal court in Boston and aims “to put an end to the massive damage that the defendants cause by actively facilitating the unlawful trafficking of their guns to drug cartels and other criminals in Mexico.”

Mexico alleges the defendants design, market, distribute and sell guns in ways that routinely arm drug cartels in Mexico. During a press conference yesterday, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that after two years of work Mexico filed the complaint with the goal of “‘the defendant companies compensating the mexican government for damages caused by the negligent practices, the amount of the demand will be determined in the trial.”