Mexico Sues U.S. Arms Companies In U.S. Court, For Negligent And Illicit Trade

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

The Government of Mexico announced, on Wednesday, August 4, that it sued 10 large U.S. arms manufacturers in a Federal Court of the District of Massachusetts, accusing them of negligent practices and of being aware that their products are illegally trafficked to Mexican territory.

According to a document cited by the British agency Reuters and The Washington Post, the lawsuit indicates that the Government of Mexico seeks compensation of up to 10 billion dollars.

This alleging that the businesses of Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. ; Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc. ; Beretta U.S.A. Corp. ; Beretta Holding S.P.A. Century International Arms, Inc. ; Colt ́s Manufacturing Company Llc; Glock, Inc. ; Glock Ges.M.B.H. ; Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. ; Witmer Public Safety Group, Inc. D/B/A Interstate Arms, knew that their commercial practices generated damage to the Latin American country.

"However, [manufacturers] continue to prioritize their economic benefit and use advertising strategies to promote increasingly lethal weapons, without security or traceability mechanisms," the demand indicates.

"The lawsuit has been filed against the negligent and illicit arms trade in the United States, a trade that causes us direct damage," said the legal consultant of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), Alejandro Celorio Alcántara.

In a press conference, he pointed out that this is a strategic litigation, and that they are prepared to respond to the legal defenses that the defendants may present.

That is why the lawsuit was made in U.S. territory, so that companies can defend themselves in their own language and under their legislation, Celorio Alcántara said.

"It is an example of negligent practice, it is a constitutional right of Americans to own and buy weapons, but we are talking about damage in Mexican territory, which has strict control of the purchase of weapons, if not with the authorization of the corresponding authorities," added the legal consultant of the SRE.

Celorio Alcántara said that U.S. law allows third parties to sue in their courts, if damage is suffered and according to its law. 

He clarified that this does not conflict with the Second Amendment, which allows U.S. citizens to acquire weapons, but is based on the fact that the damage occurs in Mexican territory, where Mexican legislation establishes that civilians cannot acquire weapons.

"The lawsuit is not against the United States government, to which we recognize the effort to control arms trafficking," reported the SRE legal consultant.

For his part, the president of the Political Coordination Board (JUCOPO) in the Senate of the Republic, Ricardo Monreal Ávila, said that the lawsuit filed in Boston, Massachusetts, is an unprecedented fact, since Mexico cannot remain silent in the face of the situation.

THE ARGUMENTS OF THE DEMAND

The 139-page lawsuit establishes the alleged responsibility of the aforementioned companies, which have the obligation to comply with Mexican and U.S. import and export laws, in particular to ensure that their distributors do not provide weapons to organized crime groups.

According to the Mexican Government, the defendants "have known for a long time that some of the traffickers they use to sell their weapons at retail supply a significant amount of weapons to the criminal market in Mexico."

The lawsuit says that the companies have received reports from the press and civil society organizations about the distribution channels that exist of their products for organized crime, although they have not created "a single public security protocol in their distribution systems to detect and deter arms trafficking to Mexico."

"The choice of the defendants to use distribution and sales policies that supply the cartels violates all the obligations and duties they have assumed as manufacturers and distributors of these weapons," the lawsuit adds.

"The defendants know that military-style weapons, such as assault rifles and sniper rifles, are particularly sought after by drug cartels that use them with devastating effects in Mexico. The defendants know that these weapons are frequently supplied to cartels through corrupt or irresponsible sellers," the lawsuit indicates.

"The defendants' response to these events has been to redouble the exact practices they know provide the cartels with military-style arsenals. The defendants' elections have had the effect of maximizing rather than minimizing sales to criminal markets," says the lawsuit.

According to the aforementioned text, the nature and magnitude of the illegal conduct of the accused has inevitably inflicted massive damage on Mexico, both in economic terms and in terms of human lives.

"Mexico is experiencing increasing levels of armed violence and suffers the death of civilians by firearms at one of the highest rates in the world. Before the dramatic increase in gun production in the United States that began at the end of 2004, the annual number of homicides in Mexico had decreased, including fewer than 2,500 committed with a gun in 2003," insists the demand.

"But the sharp increase in arms sales in the United States resulted in a ten-fold increase in gun-related homicides in Mexico, which increased to about 23,000 in 2019," accuses the Government of Mexico.

The Administration headed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, demands that companies present precautionary and equitable measures to reduce the damage they have caused; incorporate all the security mechanisms reasonably available in their weapons, including devices to prevent the use of those weapons by unauthorized users.

As well as awarding the Government compensation for damages in an amount to be determined at trial, granting civil sanctions to the Government as permitted by law and awarding to the Government of restitution and return of the defendants' profits.

Zeta Tijuana