Mexico Sues Major US Gun Manufacturers For Aiding Arms Trafficking

Mexico filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday against several major US gun manufacturers, claiming they contribute to the illegal flow of arms across the border.

The lawsuit, presented in a district court in the state of Massachusetts, is looking to stop excessive and "irresponsible" gun commercialization, which Mexican authorities say is ultimately arming cartels in Mexico and contributing to the violence in the country.

The over 130-page lawsuit establishes that Mexico saw a sudden increase in violent deaths in 2004, the same year that American gun companies vastly increased the production, distribution and marketing of military grade weapons after a US assault weapons ban ended.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said at a press conference that these gun companies are aware that they have been supplying Mexican cartels with heavy weaponry and are willfully ignoring international gun control laws.

The lawsuit was filed in a US federal courtroom in Boston, the capital of Massachusetts -- a center of US gun manufacturing. Through the Mexican Foreign Ministry, the lawsuit is seeking an estimated $10 billion in compensation and stricter regulations on gun distributors.

Ebrard said during the press conference that these gun manufacturers should develop and implement reasonable standards to monitor as well as discipline their distributors when necessary "because companies know it. They argue that after selling and marketing, they no longer have any responsibility, but they do."

Alongside Ebrard, Mexican Senator Ricardo Monreal also denounced the gun companies' practices, declaring that most of the problems in Mexico regarding violence are a direct result of the "illegal use and illegal introduction of weapons into our country."

"It is good news for Mexico, for international justice, and to stop this tragedy that surrounds us with the insecurity of crime and violence. We are taking important steps to counteract it," he said. -