Judge Kneecaps Mexico’s ‘Gossamer-Thin’ Lawsuit Claiming Gun Manufacturers Are Responsible For Cartel Crime
A federal judge partially dismissed a $10 billion lawsuit from the Mexican government claiming several U.S. gun manufacturers were responsible for facilitating arms trafficking to cartels, according to court documents…
A federal judge partially dismissed a $10 billion lawsuit from the Mexican government claiming several U.S. gun manufacturers were responsible for facilitating arms trafficking to cartels, according to court documents released Wednesday.
Judge F. Dennis Saylor of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts dismissed Mexico’s complaints against six major gun manufacturers, ruling that Mexico could not sue because they did not prove sufficient harm and none of the companies were incorporated in Massachusetts, according to the filings. The Mexican government alleged in a lawsuit filed in 2021 that the companies contributed to illegal firearms trafficking to Mexican cartels across the southern border from sales in Massachusetts through a Boston-based distributor, Witmer Public Safety Group.
“The core question for jurisdictional purposes is whether Mexico’s claims against the six moving defendants ‘arise’ from their business transactions in Massachusetts. As to those defendants, the connection of this matter to Massachusetts is gossamer-thin at best,” Saylor wrote. “The government of Mexico is obviously not a citizen of Massachusetts. None of the six moving defendants is incorporated in Massachusetts, and none has a principal place of business in Massachusetts. There is no evidence that any of them have a manufacturing facility, or even a sales office, in Massachusetts. None of the alleged injuries occurred in Massachusetts. No Massachusetts citizen is alleged to have suffered any injury. And plaintiff has not identified any specific firearm, or set of firearms, that was sold in Massachusetts and caused injury in Mexico.”
The six companies granted a dismissal are Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Beretta U.S.A., Century International Arms, Colt Manufacturing Company, Glock, and Sturm, Ruger & Co, according to the filings. Smith & Wesson (S&W) and Witmer Public Safety Group were not granted a dismissal, as S&W was formerly