The Mexican government filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking financial compensation from U.S.-based gun makers for what it says are reckless practices that allow an unlawful stream of firearms to drug cartels across the border.
The civil lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Boston, names Smith & Wesson Brands Inc., Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc., Colt’s Manufacturing Co., and Glock Inc. among the defendants.
The gun manufacturers targeted by Mexico did not immediately return requests for comment, but U.S. gun rights groups have already condemned the lawsuit.
The Mexican government says the suit is meant 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.”
Steve Shadowen, the lead attorney representing Mexico, told the Associated Press he believes this is the first time a foreign government has sued a U.S. arms manufacturer. Alejandro Celorio, legal adviser for the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Wednesday the government would seek at least $10 million in compensation.
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The 139-page lawsuit lays out a number of accusations against the gun manufacturers, claiming they are not only guilty through negligence but also through awareness and active encouragement of the booming illegal trade. The complaint alleges Colt produces guns explicitly intended to appeal to criminal Mexican cartels. One example is the special edition .38-caliber “Emiliano Zapata 1911” pistol, emblazoned with the image of the famous Mexican revolutionary on one side of the barrel, with his famous quote, “It is better to die standing than to live on your knees,” on the other.
Guns from the defendants are also alleged to have been used by sicarios, or assassins, from the Sinaloa Cartel in the infamous battle of Culiacan in October 2019, when heavily armed cartel members outgunned Mexican government security forces after El Chapo’s son was arrested, forcing the government to release him.
Barrett .50 sniper rifles, a gun that “can shoot down helicopters and penetrate lightly armored vehicles and bullet-proof glass” and used to great effect in the battle, are said to have “become one of the cartels’ guns of choice.”
The lawsuit stresses it “does not challenge or question the law, policy, or actions of the United States; the Government seeks to hold accountable and stop the reckless actions of private companies that foreseeably send their guns into Mexico.”
The suit also seeks to avert a defense focused on the Second Amendment.
“This case has nothing to do with the Second Amendment right of law abiding, responsible U.S. citizens to keep and bear arms within the U.S. This case involves Defendants’ supplying their guns to law-breaking Mexican nationals and others in Mexico. The cartels have no Second Amendment rights,” the complaint says.
Lawrence Keane, senior vice president and general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for the American firearms industry, shot back at the lawsuit in a statement, decrying it as “baseless” and shifting the blame on to the Mexican government.
“Mexico’s criminal activity is a direct result of the illicit drug trade, human trafficking and organized crime cartels that plague Mexico’s citizens. It is these cartels that criminally misuse firearms illegally imported into Mexico or stolen from the Mexican military and law enforcement,” Keane said.
The statement also disputes some key statistics put forward by the Mexican government, arguing “almost all guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico — 70% to 90% of them — were trafficked from the U.S.”
The NSSF said the study referenced is deeply flawed, as out of the 30,000 firearms recovered at Mexican crime scenes, only 7,200 were submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Of these, only 4,000 could be traced, and 3,480 were traced back to the U.S. While this is 90% of 4,000, it is only 12% of the 30,000 total. The group also says the ATF claimed many of these weapons were submitted multiple times.
The NSSF said most weapons actually come from the massive numbers of defecting Mexican soldiers (over 150,000 in recent years) or from Central American arsenals, largely supplied by China.
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“This lawsuit filed by an American gun control group representing Mexico is an affront to U.S. sovereignty and a threat to the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms. A right denied to the Mexican people who are unable to defend themselves from the cartels,” Keane added.
