Mexican government sues US gun makers in Boston federal court over flood of American weapons there

The Mexican government, which has failed to halt a flood of illegal, high-powered weaponry from entering the country, is trying different tack: Suing American weapon makers and a Billerica-based weapon wholesale successful Boston national court.

In a suit filed contiguous successful US District Court successful Boston, Mexico claims the weapon makers, including Smith and Wesson of Springfield, and wholesaler Interstate Arms, are deliberately letting automatic weapons, immoderate susceptible of taking down helicopters, beryllium acquired by Mexican cartels, which are utilizing them to destabilize an full federation done weapon violence.

Defendant Smith & Wesson, for example, makes decisions successful Massachusetts to design, market, and administer its guns successful the reckless, unsafe ways that proviso traffickers and cartels. Smith & Wesson's decisions to renege connected the reforms to which it had agreed with the U.S. government, and to usage corrupt dealers and high-risk concern practices that it knows limb the cartels, each hap successful the U.S. This Court tin halt the travel of guns into Mexico astatine its root successful Massachusetts by requiring Smith & Wesson to halt actively facilitating the transgression weapon commercialized into Mexico. The aforesaid is existent for the different Defendants.

The ailment sets retired what the Mexican authorities says it's up against:

For decades the Government and its citizens person been victimized by a deadly flood of military-style and different peculiarly lethal guns that flows from the U.S. crossed the border, into transgression hands successful Mexico. This flood is not a earthy improvement oregon an inevitable effect of the weapon concern oregon of U.S. weapon laws. It is the foreseeable effect of the Defendants’ deliberate actions and concern practices.

Defendants design, market, distribute, and merchantability guns successful ways they cognize routinely limb the cause cartels successful Mexico. Defendants usage reckless and corrupt weapon dealers and unsafe and amerciable income practices that the cartels trust connected to get their guns. Defendants plan these guns to beryllium easy modified to occurrence automatically and to beryllium readily transferable connected the transgression marketplace successful Mexico. Defendants cognize however to marque and merchantability their guns to forestall this amerciable trade; the U.S. authorities and a U.S. tribunal told them how. Defendants defy those recommendations, and galore others, and alternatively take to proceed supplying the transgression weapon marketplace successful Mexico - due to the fact that they nett from it.

The Government has beardown home laws that marque it virtually intolerable for criminals to lawfully get guns successful Mexico. Mexico has 1 weapon store successful the full federation and issues less than 50 weapon permits per year.

Defendants undermine these stringent laws, and wreak havoc successful Mexican society, by persistently supplying a torrent of guns to the cause cartels. It is estimated that much than a fractional cardinal guns annually are trafficked from the U.S. into Mexico. Defendants nutrient much than 68% of those U.S.-origin trafficked guns, which means that they annually merchantability much than 340,000 guns that travel from their plants successful Massachusetts and different U.S. states to criminals southbound of the border.

The Mexican authorities is relying connected a mates of Supreme Court rulings it says let "trans-national torts" - 1 involving a antheral kidnapped successful Mexico to look proceedings for murdering a DEA cause there.

Just arsenic Defendants whitethorn not dump toxic discarded oregon different pollutants to poison Mexicans crossed the border, they whitethorn not nonstop their weapons of warfare into the hands of the cartels, causing repeated and grievous harm, and past assertion immunity from accountability.

To beryllium clear, this suit does not situation oregon question the law, policy, oregon actions of the United States; the Government seeks to clasp accountable and halt the reckless actions of backstage companies that foreseeably nonstop their guns into Mexico.

Likewise, this lawsuit has thing to bash with the Second Amendment close of law-abiding, liable U.S. citizens to support and carnivore arms wrong the U.S. This lawsuit involves Defendants' supplying their guns to law-breaking Mexican nationals and others successful Mexico. The cartels person nary Second Amendment rights, and the Defendants person nary close to proviso them.

In summation to Smith and Wesson and Interstate Arms, Mexico alleges that 9 different weapon dealers successful eastbound Massachusetts person sold guns that coiled up being utilized by Mexican cartels. In summation to its national allegations, Mexico alleges that the weapon shaper is violating the Massachusetts consumer-protection law:

Smith & Wesson violated the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, Mass. Gen. Laws c. 93A ("Chapter 93A"), done selling that emphasized the quality of civilians to misuse Smith & Wesson battle rifles successful unlawful, military-style attacks and encouraged specified misuse.

Smith & Wesson chiefly manufactures, markets, and distributes AR-15-style battle rifles similar the Smith & Wesson M&P 15 from a basal of operations successful Massachusetts. It is frankincense taxable to Chapter 93A, which prohibits immoral oregon reckless advertizing inducing unlawful oregon unsafe misuse of products, adjacent erstwhile harms resulting from the unlawful selling are felt extracurricular of Massachusetts.

Smith & Wesson knowingly violated Chapter 93A by selling products, including AR-15 benignant rifles similar the Smith & Wesson M&P 15, to the civilian marketplace successful ways that highlighted their efficacy for civilians wanting to transportation retired unlawful military-style combat missions and that encouraged and promoted the misuse.

Smith & Wesson did truthful knowing that its selling would motivate and pull transgression users - including the cartels - to prime and misuse its products successful unlawful acts of violence. Smith & Wesson intentionally emphasized the quality of its products to rapidly dispatch ample numbers of opponents successful equipped combat, appealing particularly to criminals similar the cartels who privation to outgun and decision instrumentality enforcement oregon subject forces.

The Mexican government's ailment asks a justice to bid the companies to instrumentality steps some to marque their guns little invaluable to the cartels by making them harder to crook into automatic weapons oregon obliterate serial numbers and by cutting disconnected immoderate distributors recovered selling to cartels. Also, the companies request to wage Mexico their allegedly ill-gotten profits connected the weapons and wage punitive damages.

The ailment was written and filed by two lawyers from Austin, TX specializing successful "landmark class-action litigation involving economical and civilian rights" and by a lawyer for Brady United, the gun-control radical named for Reagan's property secretary, changeable during an assassination effort against Reagan.

Complete complaint (2.5M PDF).