Mexico files another lawsuit against US sellers for the flow of illegal weapons into the country

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The Mexican government filed another lawsuit on Monday against US companies that it points to as being responsible for the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico.

The first lawsuit, which was recently dismissed by a federal judge, was directed at US gunmakers.

The second, which according to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, was presented this Monday in Arizona, seems to be directed at arms dealers.

Ebrard said that Mexico would appeal the first decision.

Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard speaks during a press conference after the Second Annual High-Level Economic Dialogue Meeting in Mexico City, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. Raquel Cunha/AP

"Los estamos demandando porque claramente hay un patrón, sostenemos que es obvio que

y que se sabe que estas armas van a nuestro país", dijo Ebrard.

Ebrard promised last week that the new lawsuit will target gun stores or dealers in US border states, who sell guns to bogus buyers who, in turn, pass them on to smugglers, who then They take the weapons to Mexico.

Ebrard said about 60% of the guns seized in Mexico in recent years are believed to have been sold in 10 US counties, most along the border.

The Government of Mexico will appeal a judicial decision against its lawsuit against arms producers

Oct. 2, 202200:25

Mexico has very strict restrictions on gun ownership

, but drug cartel violence has cost hundreds of thousands of lives in the country in recent years.

“We are going to show that many of these points of sale where they sell these products in these counties that I mentioned are dealing with front men (false buyers) and criminal charges have to be filed,” Ebrard said last week in an appearance before the Mexican Senate. .

The Mexican government estimates that 70% of the weapons trafficked in Mexico come from the United States, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He said that in 2019 alone, at least 17,000 homicides in Mexico were related to arms trafficking.

[The culture of guns among Latinos: who has them and what they use them for]

A recently enacted US law criminalizes buying through figureheads and establishes sentences of up to 15 to 25 years if the crime is related to drug trafficking.

The judge who dismissed the first suit ruled that Mexico's claims did not go beyond the broad protection afforded to gunmakers by the Law for the Protection of the Legal Trade in Arms passed in 2005.

[The President Signs Historic Gun Control Bill After It Passes Congress]

The law protects gun manufacturers from damages "resulting from the

" of a firearm.

Mexico was seeking compensation of at least $10 billion, but legal experts had viewed the lawsuit as a long shot.