Analyst Sees Obstacles to Mexico's Gun Lawsuit 1:49
Mexico City (CNN) -
When, early in his term, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called on the United States to stem the flow of arms trafficked across the border, it was just the latest in a succession of Mexican leaders in doing so.
According to Mexican authorities, about half a million US guns find their way into Mexico each year.
The United States Department of Justice found that between 2014 and 2018, about 70 percent of firearms recovered in Mexico and presented for trace originated north of the border.
Earlier this month, lawyers representing the Mexican government took a new step in tackling the epidemic of violence in the country.
They filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston against 7 US gun manufacturers and a gun wholesaler, arguing that they bear some responsibility for the flow of guns that reach criminals in Mexico.
The lawsuit accuses the companies of "actively facilitating" the trafficking of those weapons to "drug cartels and other criminals in Mexico."
It comes at a time when homicide rates in Mexico are at their highest levels since former President Felipe Calderón launched an offensive against drug cartels in 2006, with more than 36,000 murders recorded last year.
Mexico notified US about lawsuit for weapons 5:47
A river of weapons
The legal arms market is much smaller and more controlled in Mexico than in the United States.
The country has only one armory, and it is run by the army.
Prospective buyers must go through strict background checks that require, among other things, proof of employment and no criminal record.
And yet more than 25,000 Mexicans were killed by firearms last year.
advertising
Homicides in Mexico began to increase dramatically in the mid-2000s, when the country intensified its war on drugs.
But the lawsuit points to another fact that she says contributed to the rise in violence: the 2004 expiration of the US ban on assault weapons.
The lawsuit alleges that homicides then increased, "at exactly the same time as the defendants' increased production, distribution, and marketing of military-grade weapons."
ANALYSIS |
Mexico's lawsuit against gun manufacturers faces a difficult road
"Several academic papers have found a strong statistical correlation between the end of the ban on assault weapons and the increase in the availability of weapons and the increase in homicides related to firearms in Mexico," Alejandro Hope told CNN , a security expert based in Mexico City. "Is that the only reason violence has increased in Mexico? No, certainly not. But it is one of many drivers," he added.
"The lawsuit makes a very clear case that these defendants are not only fully aware of the diversion of their products south of the border, and the resulting carnage, but [also] are aware of the measures that could be taken to mitigate those issues, "Adam Skaggs, chief counsel and policy director at the Giffords Law Center, a gun control advocacy group that is not involved in the lawsuit, told CNN.
"Not only have they not taken any of these steps, but they have profited handsomely by refusing to do anything to fix the problem," he warned.
They create a group of armed civilians to protect Mexicans 5:06
Lawyers representing the gun manufacturers say they are being "scapegoats."
"It is these cartels that misuse firearms illegally imported into Mexico or stolen from the Mexican army and law enforcement," said Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel of National Shooting Sports, in a statement. Foundation (NSSF), a trade association whose members are among the defendants.
(A spokesperson for the NSSF said the organization is not involved in the lawsuit.)
The NSSF, in a statement, also called the allegations "unfounded" and insisted that all retail firearms "have been conducted in accordance with federal and state law, with a background check and FBI forms. ".
The demand
The lawsuit stems from a shooting that took place north of the border.
On August 3, 2019, a gunman shot and killed 22 people, including at least eight Mexican nationals, in a Walmart parking lot in El Paso, Texas.
(A 23rd victim died nine months later).
Mexican officials and the victims' families filed a lawsuit in state district court against Walmart for failing to do enough to protect the victims (Walmart has rejected the allegations; a trial date is expected in 2022).
So the Mexican government set its sights on the arms industry.
"He had a mandate to find legal actions so that the government of Mexico would do something," Alejandro Celorio, legal adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Relations, told CNN.
"Everything started to build from 'let's do something about El Paso' to this is huge 'the negligence of the arms industry is immense', so let's do something that tries to solve the big picture," he added.
Mexico sues several arms manufacturers in the US: what you should know
Steve Shadowen, one of the plaintiff's lead attorneys, said that in addition to seeking damages, his team wanted to change the way gun manufacturers do business.
Marcelo Ebrard, on migration and weapons 2:05
"We are particularly interested in getting manufacturers to change the way they do business going forward, to tighten their distribution systems so that they no longer supply unlimited quantities of guns to gun sellers who systematically sell them to buyers of straw and others that are dedicated to trafficking into Mexico, "he told CNN.
Shadowen declined to say how much he was asking for damages, but Mexico's Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard told reporters that the country would ask for at least $ 10 billion.
The manufacturers named in the litigation are Smith & Wesson, Barrett, Beretta, Century Arms, Colt, Glock, Ruger and the wholesale arms group Witmer Public Safety.
A Glock representative told CNN that the company's policy is not to comment on pending litigation, but said it would defend itself "vigorously."
Smith & Wesson, Barret, Beretta, Century Arms, Colt, Ruger and the Witmer Public Safety group did not respond to CNN's request for comment.
Hugs, not bullets
Since taking office in 2018, Mexico's president has vowed to combat Mexico's gun-related violence epidemic with "hugs, not bullets," suggesting a break from the hard-line tactics of his predecessors.
But "hugs, not bullets" has so far accomplished little.
Despite López Obrador's statements about "peace and calm" in the country, the murder rate remains stubbornly high.
"[López Obrador] seems to think of security policy as a by-product of social policy. You just have to give people jobs and welfare and somehow crime will go down by some mysterious mechanism," Hope told CNN.
"That hasn't really worked out," he added.
Hope said there are some practical considerations for the timing of the lawsuit - a political environment in the US that is increasingly prone to gun control - as well as political ones.
Chancellor Marcelo Ebrard is expected to run for president in 2024, raising his profile.
"Are there political motivations? Yes. Does that exempt the gun lobby from facing its responsibility? No, I don't think so," Hope said.
Experts say the plaintiffs are fighting an uphill battle because of a 2005 US law - the Legal Arms Trade Protection Act - that protects gun manufacturers from liability when crimes are committed with their products.
Shadowen said he believed the law does not apply to crimes committed outside of the United States.
"We have consulted some of the world's leading experts on this specific issue, and we are convinced that we are going to win that issue," he said.
AMLO reiterates that arms lawsuit is not against the US 3:13
If the case goes to trial, gun manufacturers could be forced to reveal years of inside information about marketing practices and what they understood about how their guns got into the hands of criminals, Jake Charles, an expert on the second, told CNN. Duke Law School amendment.
It could also reveal the repercussions of US arms policy beyond its borders.
"Most of the debate on guns in the United States has revolved around the liability of manufacturers, distributors and sellers for damages that occur domestically in the United States," said Charles, the legal expert.
"This will put on the table the question of to what extent they are responsible - legally, politically or morally - for the arms getting into the hands of bad actors in Mexico," he added.
Report of Karol Suárez from CNN in Mexico City and journalist Danielle Renwick in New York.
weapons Mexico
