According to legal work initiated in the state of Massachusetts, a foreign country is using the US judicial system to sue gun companies for fueling a drug war. Here’s everything about the one-of-a-kind legal nightmare.
Weapons, a Drug war, and a lawsuit
On Wednesday, the national government of Mexico sued ten US-based gun firms in a US federal court. The government is accusing the manufacturers of fueling a drug war in Mexico. The war has cost thousands of Latin American lives every year. The country has demanded almost $10 billion as compensation from gun companies. The list includes big shots of the industry like Barrett Firearms and Smith & Wesson.
According to the lawsuit, the drug war has terrorized the Mexican citizen and government for decades. “They have been victimized by a deadly flood of military-style and other particularly lethal guns that flows from the US across the border. (The flow of the weapons is ) the foreseeable result of the defendants’ deliberate actions and business practices,” it states.
Why are American gun manufacturers being sued?
According to the lawsuit the US’ neighbor is accusing them of allowing their products to cross the border through illegal means. Gun ownership and laws are quite lax in America. However, Mexico has strict rules and regulations regarding ownership of weapons. Moreover, experts believe that criminal organizations in Mexico get weapons from the US. How? Through Americans with clean records who buy guns and then smuggle them across the border.
Additionally, according to a report in the New York Times, over 70 percent of guns found in Mexico between 2014 to 2018 were from the US. “Despite blazing red flags indicating that a gun dealer is conspiring with straw purchasers or others to traffic defendants’ guns into Mexico,” highlights the lawsuit.
However, despite the $10 billion demand from Mexico, analysts are not sure if the lawsuit will succeed. This is due to the sheer amount of forces in the US protecting and shielding gun manufactures from victims of gun violence and their relatives. Moreover, it will not be easy to identify and accuse wrongful involvement from a company. After all, selling to a distributor who may or may not have criminal links is not exactly a crime. However, the case is sure to gather a lot of attention.