Judge rejects bulk of Mexico's $10bn US guns lawsuit

Guns lined up on a wallImage source, Getty Images
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A US judge has thrown out most of a $10bn (£7.8bn) lawsuit brought by Mexico against US gun manufacturers it says are fuelling rampant weapons trafficking that brings 500,000 guns south across the border every year.

Of the eight companies Mexico sued in 2021, six were dismissed by a judge who said that the country's claims that US gun manufacturers are responsible for weapons trafficking to violent drug cartels are "gossamer-thin at best".

The companies have long argued that Mexico cannot prove that violence is the fault of gun manufacturers.

Mexico's foreign ministry told Reuters it would continue its legal action and considering filing an appeal.

The lawsuit, filed in a federal courthouse in Massachusetts - where several of the companies are based - argued that the "flood" of illegal guns in Mexico "is the foreseeable result of the defendants' deliberate actions and business practices".

While the cases against many of the companies were dismissed, Smith & Wesson Brands and Witmer Public Safety Group remain defendants following the judge's ruling.

"This decision does not affect the lawsuit against these two companies nor does it absolve the other six companies of responsibility," Mexico's foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Mexico is exploring various options, including a possible appeal or resorting to other federal courts in the US," the statement added.

The BBC has contacted Mexico's government for comment.

In his decision, US District Judge Dennis Saylor wrote that Mexico did not adequately prove that any firearms sold in Massachusetts caused the country harm.

Mexico has for years argued that the country's extremely restrictive laws on gun sales make legal purchases difficult, driving criminal organisations to look to the US to purchase thousands of weapons.

There is only one gun shop in Mexico, located in a Mexico City military complex. Buyers there are required to submit to exhaustive background checks that can often take months.

Given the restrictions, Mexican authorities believe that a large portion of southern-bound weapons are bought legally by 'straw buyers', who then unlawfully pass them to criminals.

US gun manufacturers, for their part, have long argued Mexico cannot draw a line between the violence and their firms.

Additionally, the companies say that US law protects the companies from liability over the misuse of their products.

More than 30,000 people were murdered in Mexico in 2023, according to Mexican government statistics.

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