An American federal judge dismissed this Friday the demand for 10 billion dollars presented by Mexico that sought to hold US arms manufacturers responsible for facilitating drug cartels to traffic weapons across the US-Mexico border.
Boston District Judge F. Dennis Saylor ruled that all of Mexico’s claims against Smith & Wesson Brands Inc SWBI.O , Sturm, Ruger & Co RGR.BLUE and other defendants are prohibited by federal law or fail for other reasons.
Saylor said federal law “unequivocally” prohibits lawsuits that seek to hold gun manufacturers liable when people use guns for their intended purpose. He also added that, although the law contained several specific exceptions, none were applied.
“Although the court has great sympathy for the people of Mexicoand none by those who traffic weapons for Mexican criminal organizations, have a duty to comply with the law,” Saylor wrote in a 44-page decision.
Lawyers for Mexico did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Mexican foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
At the beginning of September the journalist Jesús Esquivel reported in Aristegui News that the manufacturing companies sued by Mexico pointed out that the law for the protection of the legal arms trade in the US is not extraterritorial and They asked to dismiss the lawsuit.
On August 4, 2021, the federal government of Mexico filed a lawsuit before a Massachusetts District Court vs big 10 arms companieswhom he accuses of negligent practices and of being aware that their products are illegally trafficked into the country for supply organized crime groups.
In April of this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) published litigation documents that the federal government undertook against US companies that manufacture and distribute weapons, which “actively facilitates the illicit trafficking of weapons to Mexico.”
(With information from Reuters)
Reference-aristeguinoticias.com
