According to Mexican officials, some half a million US guns find their way to Mexico each year; the US Department of Justice found that between 2014 and 2018, about 70 percent of firearms recovered in Mexico and submitted for tracing originated north of the border.
Earlier this month, attorneys representing the Mexican government took a new step to confront the country’s epidemic of violence. They filed a lawsuit in a Boston federal court against 7 US gunmakers and one gun wholesaler, arguing that they bear some responsibility for the flow of weapons into criminal hands in Mexico.
The market for legal guns is much smaller and more tightly controlled in Mexico than in the United States. The country has only one gunshop, and it is run by the military. Prospective buyers must pass through stringent background checks, which require proof of employment and a clean criminal record, among other things. And yet over 25,000 Mexicans were killed by firearms last year.
Homicides in Mexico…