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- Mexico filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday against several US-based gun companies.
- The lawsuit argues the companies’ business practices facilitated the unlawful trafficking of guns into Mexico.
- Mexican officials say more than 2.5 million guns flowed into the country from the US over a decade.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Mexico sued several US-based gun companies Wednesday, arguing that their business practices led to illicit guns flowing over the border from the US into Mexico, which in turn led to increased homicide rates.
The lawsuit, which the government of Mexico filed in a federal court in Massachusetts, accused the companies of “actively facilitating the unlawful trafficking of their guns to drug cartels and other criminals in Mexico.”
The companies targeted include Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Century Arms, Colt, Glock, Ruger, and Barrett, all gun makers, as well as a wholesaler in Boston called Interstate Arms. The companies did not respond to Insider’s request for comment or could not be reached.
The US government, which Mexico has long criticized for its lax gun control laws, was not targeted by the lawsuit.
The lawsuit said 70% to 90% of all guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico, which has strict gun control laws, were trafficked from the US, adding that “this flood is not a natural phenomenon or an inevitable consequence of the gun business or of US gun laws.”
“It is the foreseeable result of the Defendants’ deliberate actions and business practices,” it continued. “Defendants design, market, distribute, and sell guns in ways they know routinely arm the drug cartels in Mexico.”
The lawsuit cited several specific examples, including a .50 caliber rifle made by Barrett that “can shoot down helicopters and penetrate armored vehicles and bullet-proof glass” and has “become one of the cartels’ guns of choice.”
It also said three guns made by Colt seem to explicitly target a Mexican audience by being given Spanish nicknames, including one that features the image of Emiliano Zapata, a Mexican revolutionary, and a quote attributed to him: “It is better to die standing than to live on your knees.”
The court filing also drew a correlation between the rise of homicides in Mexico and the number of guns manufactured in the US.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearm industry trade association, rejected Mexico’s claims that the gun makers took part in negligent business practices.
“The Mexican government is responsible for the rampant crime and corruption within their own borders,” Lawrence G. Keane, the group’s senior vice president and general counsel, said. He added that the Mexican government was “seeking to scapegoat law-abiding American businesses” and that it is “solely responsible for enforcing its laws.”
According to officials, Mexico has only one gun store and issues less than 50 gun permits each year. A study conducted by the Mexican government last year found more than 2.5 million guns have illegally entered the country from the US over the past decade, The Washington Post reported at the time.
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