by So the Mexican government is suing US firearms companies for the bloodshed that they can’t control in their own country. Would it surprise you to learn that one of the lead attorneys on the case is none other than Jonathan Lowy of the Brady Center?
Of course it wouldn’t.
The 139-page lawsuit was filed in US District Court for Massachusetts. It names Smith & Wesson, Barrett, Beretta USA, Colt, Ruger, Glock, and Century International as defendants along with Interstate Arms which is a wholesaler.
The Mexican government argues that the companies know that their practices contribute to the trafficking of guns to Mexico and facilitate it. Mexico wants compensation for the havoc the guns have wrought in its country.
The Mexican government “brings this action to put an end to the massive damage that the Defendants cause by actively facilitating the unlawful trafficking of their guns to drug cartels and other criminals in Mexico,” the lawsuit said.
Then there is this overheated rhetoric from the complaint itself. I would have used another word but want to keep it family friendly.
F. Defendants Actively Assist and Facilitate Trafficking by Designing and
Marketing Their Rifles as Military-Style Assault Weapons.Defendants’ design and marketing of their weapons exacerbate their reckless and
unlawful distribution policies. Defendants design and market their guns as weapons of war,
making them particularly susceptible to being trafficked into Mexico.It has long been foreseeable and expected that Defendants’ marketing of their
guns as weapons of war would lead to their trafficking to the cartels in Mexico and to increased
homicides and other massive damage to the Government. The Government’s injury is the
foreseeable result of Defendants’ conduct.Defendants design their guns as military-style assault weapons.
Military-style weapons are useful for killing large numbers of people in a short
amount of time, taking on well-armed military or police forces, and intimidating and terrorizing
people. The Manufacturer Defendants designed their assault weapons to be effective peoplekilling machines.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation wasted no time is issuing a new release calling out the Mexican government. They said, in part:
“These allegations are baseless. The Mexican government is responsible for the rampant crime and corruption within their own borders,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Mexico’s criminal activity is a direct result of the illicit drug trade, human trafficking and organized crime cartels that plague Mexico’s citizens. It is these cartels that criminally misuse firearms illegally imported into Mexico or stolen from the Mexican military and law enforcement. Rather than seeking to scapegoat law-abiding American businesses, Mexican authorities must focus their efforts on bringing the cartels to justice. The Mexican government, which receives considerable aid from U.S. taxpayers, is solely responsible for enforcing its laws – including the country’s strict gun control laws – within their own borders.
“The American people through their elected officials decide the laws governing the lawful commerce in firearms in our country,” Keane added. “This lawsuit filed by an American gun control group representing Mexico is an affront to U.S. sovereignty and a threat to the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms. A right denied to the Mexican people who are unable to defend themselves from the cartels.”
Larry Keane is right. The allegations are baseless. Moreover, the failure of that nation to right in their criminal cartels is at the root of the problem. That they are aided and abetted in this nonsense by the Brady Center is illustrative of the hatred that Mr. Lowy and the rest of the gun prohibitionists have for the rule of law, United States sovereignty, and democratically passed legislation such as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Instead of practicing lawfare, if they want the law to be changed, go to Congress and work to have it changed.
I have embedded the full complaint below using ScribD. It was too large a document for a direct embed.
Mexico v. Smith and Wesson by jpr9954 on Scribd