After a gun buyback event, guns were displayed in Queens Borough of New York City by the New York City Police Department (NYPD), June 12, 2021.On Wednesday, the Mexican government filed a civil suit against several U.S. gun makers. They claim that they contributed to illegal gun trafficking to Mexico.The suit was filed in U.S. Federal Court in Boston. Smith & Wesson and Barrett Firearms are among the defendants.The companies did not respond immediately to our requests for comment.Gun manufacturers are accused of using negligent business practices to facilitate the smuggling of guns to Mexico and cause "massive harm" to the country. They are accused of knowing that they supply Mexico's criminal gun market. The lawsuit also notes that military-style guns can often be sold to criminals who inflict injury on civilians.Mexico has had high homicide rates for the past few years. The lawsuit claims that this is due to weapons being shipped from the U.S., in violation of Mexican gun laws."The consequences for Mexico have been terrible. The lawsuit claims that in addition to the explosive growth of the homicide rate and the detrimental effect it has had on Mexican society, the conduct of the defendants is also alleged.Mexico seeks to compensate for the financial loss and bloodshed that was caused by the defendants' illegal conduct. According to Reuters, Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico's Foreign Affairs Minister, stated Wednesday at a press conference that the government seeks an estimated $10 billion in compensation.The lawsuit stated that "For decades, the Government and its citizens were victims to a deadly floodof military-style and other particularly fatal guns that flows from America across the border into Mexico and into the hands of criminals in Mexico.""This flood is neither a natural phenomenon nor an inevitable consequence of U.S. gun laws or the gun business." It is a predictable result of the deliberate business and business actions of the Defendants."The compensation would include the cost of injuries and deaths to Mexican military personnel and police officers, as well as social services for victims of gun crime and their families. It also includes a boost in law enforcement to stop the trafficking in guns.According to the lawsuit, Mexico's domestic laws severely restrict firearms sales. The Mexican government only issues 50 permits per year.According to the lawsuit, the defendants have allegedly weakened these laws. According to the lawsuit, half a million guns are smuggled each year from the U.S. into Mexico. The defendants allegedly produce more than 68%.According to the lawsuit, this means that they sell more than 340,000 guns each year that cross the U.S.-Mexico frontier to criminals.According to the lawsuit, defendants failed to regulate gun distribution practices. The lawsuit claims that they sell guns to any dealer or distributor with a U.S. licence, even if they have a history of illegally selling guns in Mexico.They are also accused of marketing lethal guns in ways that attracted transnational criminal groups, such as Mexican drug cartels. Barrett Firearms, for example, markets one of its rifles to the public as a "weapons of war" but does not restrict sales to the general population, according the lawsuit.According to the lawsuit, defendants have allowed gun traffickers to attack Mexican police officers and military personnel and increase extortion and kidnapping crime.According to Reuters, Ebrard called for the U.S. gun makers to stop their business practices that lead to violence and death in his country. He believes that the U.S. government is open to working with Mexico to stop illegal arms trafficking, even though it isn't mentioned in the lawsuit.
