Mexico sues US gun manufacturers in federal court over claims of fueling violence News
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Mexico sues US gun manufacturers in federal court over claims of fueling violence

The government of Mexico filed a complaint on Wednesday against eight gun manufacturers, holding companies and distributors, alleging tort claims based on a “deadly flood of military-style and other particularly lethal guns” across the border from the US into Mexico.

The complaint named several major gun manufacturers as defendants, including Smith & Wesson, Barrett, Beretta, Century, Colt, Glock, Strum, and Ruger. The lawsuit alleges claims of negligence, public nuisance, unreasonable danger, negligence per se, gross negligence, unjust enrichment, and violations of the consumer protection laws of Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The complaint alleges that the gun manufacturers took deliberate actions and instituted specific business practices that enabled the trafficking of their guns across the US-Mexico border. The majority of guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico are trafficked from the United States.

The complaint further alleges that the gun manufacturers create products that are targeted at Mexican consumers and that they are easily modified to be suitable for the illegal gun trade, despite recommendations by the US government and its courts that would limit trafficking. Additionally, the complaint claims that gun manufacturers recklessly distribute their products to distributors and dealers throughout the United States.

The lawsuit faces steep challenges from a federal law enacted in 2005 called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which shields gun manufacturers from most civil liability for gun crimes. This law has been challenged on 10th Amendment grounds and was struck down by a Pennsylvania appellate court as unconstitutional. That court viewed the PLCAA was a Congressional tort-reform bill attempting to reform the state law of torts and convert it into federal law, thereby stripping the states of the power to rely on their common law to hold the firearms industry accountable for negligence. Notably, that challenge was not based on the Second Amendment. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will review the decision later this year.

The Mexican government is represented by Hillard Shadowen LLP and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.