The first rule of government: If you can’t fix a problem, appoint a commission. The second rule of government: If a commission won’t deflect attention from your shortcomings, sue someone. The second approach is the one the Mexican government has chosen to address the ongoing problem of the rampant carnage that has afflicted the country for decades.
Cartel-driven violence has been an continuing plague in Mexico for at least a couple of decades now. It’s something we’ve written about scores of times going back to the beginning of TTAG.
Now, apparently out of ideas for ways to do something substantive about the daily bloodshed, the Mexican government is suing five big U.S. gunmakers over the flow of arms into their benighted country.
According to The Washington Post . . .
The lawsuit maintains that the U.S. arms manufacturers “are conscious of the fact that their products are trafficked and used in illicit activities against the civilian population and authorities of Mexico,” according to a document from the Foreign Ministry.
“Nonetheless, they continue to prioritize their economic benefit, and use marketing strategies to promote weapons that are ever more lethal, without mechanisms of security or traceability,” the statement continued.
Besides an unspecified damages claim, what exactly do the Mexicans expect the targeted companies to do about lawfully sold weapons that find their way across the border?
The lawsuit also seeks the adoption of tighter controls in sales and security features on weapons. It also wants the companies to undertake studies and media campaigns to prevent arms trafficking.
Uh huh.
The suit notably doesn’t name the US Government as a target along with the manufacturers. That’s seems more than a little strange since the Obama/Biden Administration deliberately sent thousands of guns south of the border in the early aughts, guns that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Mexican civilians and law enforcement agents. Not to mention US Border Patrol agent Brian Terry on this side of the line.
Fast and Furious, however, was relatively small potatoes in terms of the number of firearms that get into the hands of brutal cartel members.
Mexican authorities believe U.S.-made weapons have fueled the explosive violence that has transformed parts of the country over the past decade. Around 2.5 million illicit American guns have poured across the border in that time period, according to a Mexican government study released last year. Legal gun sales in Mexico are tightly restricted.
That’s a lot of firepower. But the vast majority of the guns are sold legally to the Mexican government for their military and security forces. Only a tiny fraction of the problem guns are bought here and illicitly transported south.
So Mexico’s real problem is internal. The lawsuit is the government’s way of diverting attention from the fact that the cartels there are armed, to a great extent, by guns that mysteriously fall off the back of Army transports and are sold out of Federal Police armories in the middle of the night.
From a report by the American Friends Service Committee . . .
Because of the depth of corruption in the Mexican government, police and armed forces blur the lines between official groups and criminals, and legal arms sales frequently end up arming criminal gangs and criminal conduct directly. Moreover, the Mexican police and military have a long history of repression against mostly peaceful social movements.
None of that is news. Mexican government corruption has been endemic there for longer than anyone can remember and as the cartels have grown richer and more powerful, it’s become easier for them to “persuade” and incent government officials to transfer materiel to them.
As The Intercept reported in 2018 . . .
The exponential growth in [arms] sales to Mexico has not been accompanied by controls to track where the guns go or to ensure that they do not land in the hands of police or military units that are credibly alleged to have committed gross human rights abuses or colluded with criminal groups – the very groups that security forces are being armed to combat. Legally exported U.S. firearms have been used in massacres, disappearances, and by security forces that collude with criminal groups in Mexico on a broad scale.
The lack of controls attributable solely to Mexican officials. After the guns get to them. The guns are sold — legally — to the military and from there…well, it’s not hard to guess.
We’ve seen this movie before. Just as some American cities desperately and laughably blame gun stores and firearms manufacturers for their local law enforcement and criminal justice system failures, Mexico is now trying to pin the blame for their rampant crime problem on US gun makers. And so it goes.
UPDATE:
And, BTW, the Mexican government is represented by the antigun group Brady United. @NSSF https://t.co/luucJHun53
— Larry Keane (@lkeane) August 4, 2021
I bet they are all quaking in their boots… NOT. Zero standing
“Zero standing”
true, if the rules are followed.
After dumbazz Remington caved and offered to settle with victims of Sandy Hook expect anything and everything to come from the kind of scumbags who led gullible parents around with Gun Free Zone Signs and led criminals into schools with Gun Free Zone Siigns.
Those in Mexico who coddle criminals and blame inanimate objects are just as bad.
If everyone was sued who made products criminals misused there would be nothing made because anything a criminal puts their hands on they’ll use in crime.
In other words Mexico you clowns have nothing, NADA. Now stfu and come get your herds of criminals who sneak into America everyday illegally.
“Zero standing”
Tobacco companies thought the same way for *decades*, when they were sued for causing lung cancer…
They were sued for misleading the product safety, gun manufacturers go to great lengths to make sure their product is safe for the user. That safety does not extend to the criminal use of any product otherwise, Ford, GM would be out of business because someone ran someone else over, so would Bic pens from criminals writing bad checks.
Beretta is not a US company. I don’t think Glock is either.
Berettas have been manufactured in Maryland since the 80s and they recently relocated to Tennessee. GLOCK has been US Headquartered in Smyrna GA for some time now now have begun producing firearms since 2014, I believe. Most major gun companies with foreign roots have domestic operations due to import restrictions.
Beretta is a privately held Italian company. They have US manufacturing.
Glock is an Austrian company with US manufacturing.
It’s setup like auto makers such as Toyota. That too is not a US company.
US based subsidiaries are subject to suit as US companies. It is not necessary to sue the parent for claims arising from arms manufactured by the subsidiary.
@Mark N.
That my point.
But let’s be clear here. We are talking about a foreign government disarming us.
“a foreign government disarming us”
the ones behind it. the government is a front.
The cause is their Mexico’s ineffective border, corrupt government and culture of drugs and violence not the guns themselves. Will they sue companies for the vehicles the cartel uses too? I hope these companies tell them to pound sand and don’t even send a rep to their kangaroo court.
Ben says: “I hope these companies tell them to pound sand and don’t even send a rep to their kangaroo court.”
How to lose by default in one easy lesson.
“We are talking about a foreign government disarming us.”
More specifically, we’re talking about Democrats using foreign governments to try to disarm us, just like they’re using multinational corporations to silence us all while hiding behind Libertarian talking points. Remind me. Who’s the traitor again?
They don’t have to be an American company, You can sue a company in the U.S. if they have a business presence in the U.S., they don’t have to be an American company or have head quarters or incorporated in the U.S. – they just have to have a business presence in the U.S. to be sued in the U.S.
But with Mexico we should make an exception and tell them to go pound sand.
pounding sand is what they are going to end up doing anyway.Just saying “conscious of the fact that their products are trafficked and used in illicit activities against the civilian population and authorities of Mexico,” is not suitable standing. Its got to be shown to be intentional and knowingly. I’m pretty sure the gun manufacturers did not intentionally and knowingly “traffic” guns into Mexico even if they are aware that their guns are trafficked into Mexico.
Just being aware that your product was used by someone else to do something bad is not enough for standing that will take this to completion. That’s basically what Mexico is saying, that the manufacturers are aware of it, big deal.
I mean, anything can be trafficked into and out of Mexico and a lot of manufacturers are aware of it but that does not make them responsible for it.
Fore example: Glock has a U.S. headquarters here in the U.S. thus can be sued in the U.S. because its a business presence in the U.S. even though the company is owned by the foreign entity Glock Ges.m.b.H. in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria
My Beretta has “GALLATIN, TN” stamped on the slide.
That could be a manufacturing location or an import location. Both are often stamped on a firearm.
Taking a page from the American dem playbook…..can’t or won’t go after the criminals, so harass the legal manufacturers! Phony cowards!!
“can’t or won’t go after the criminals”
why would they? that would compromise one of their revenue sources.
So now we should sue the Mexican government $ !,000,000 per illegal that they let cross into our country. Then there are the deaths from drugs being permitted to be smuggled into our country also.
Yes
This ⬆️ sadly even if we won against the Mexican Governement they would have no money to pay. Find it surprising the US Govermemet is not included in the lawsuit. They are one of the biggest gun runners to Mexico and or allow it to happen.
Ea Schrade
I like that.idea. Also no arms sales of any kind by any US company to any entity in Mexico. Bidet won’t allow that though.
Aforementioned gun companies should counter sue for defamation 😂😂
Remember the Alamo bitch! 😂🖕🖕 What absurdity.
Remember San Jacinto !
Hear, hear Mr. Schrade! Huzzah!
ChoseDeath…….Wonder they didn’t sue Remington, they seem to roll over really easily.
A great many mass graves have been filled with machetes and hachets by cartel folk. Plenty of footage of it.
which is why the mexican government doesn’t go after them.
Sue them back for drugs, illegal aliens and covid coming in
Oh and that time I drank tequila and did some stuff
😂
Lol ….got any windex
“Mexican Government Sues GLOCK, Beretta, Barrett, S&W and Colt Over Arms Crossing the Border”
(laugh) because the cartels are too difficult to sue.
ant7….. We have a federal premption law that forbids this type of suit in America so the commies in the District of Communism talked to their muy simpatico commie in Mexico to get him to do it for them.
It’s not “Gun Violence”.
It’s “Ballistic Self-Expression”.
(Sounds much better).
Well maybe they should secure their boarders.
Prepare to repel all borders [sic]…
Yes, they should build a wall. Imagine if they did, that would be funny.
“Yes, they should build a wall”
they did. check out their southern border wall, it’s impressive.
I wonder how much ($$$) the Biden administration is paying the Mexican Government to sue these gun companies? Since it was the Obama/Biden and Eric Holder Administration that made sure guns were sent to the Mexican gangsters. As well as supplying weapons to the Paris terrorists which help them to kill nearly 200 people.
Is is just a distraction.
“It also wants the companies to undertake studies and media campaigns to prevent arms trafficking”
if the mexican government can’t stop arms trafficking in mexico, who can?
your mom. buzz off.
“your mom”
she could.
Exactly. What is a private company that has no police powers supposed to do that a government with full police powers and a military cannot do? Plus, all of those arms are serialized and can be traced though the distribution channels to the ultimate “retail” sale. And as F&F taught, there is no way to include tracking devices in firearms; not only are they easily discoverable, their batteries die and that is the end of that. Once out of sight, those guns are gone until recovered at a crime scene.
Mexico has been in a full blown insurgency for quite some time. The difference is that the insurgents don’t want to change the existing government, they just want it to leave them alone, so they can do business.
The Mexican government officials for their part are pretty happy, as long as they get their cut of the action. Pretty similar, but on larger and more violent scale, to our prohibition era situation where you saw the rise of gangsters and the participation and profit of the ruling elite, like Joseph Kennedy who supplied Irish Whiskey to the New York Mob, and the Canadian Seagram’s Family who supplied Capone in Chicago etc. Plus all the Politicians, Cops and Judges who took bribes to keep it all going.
The American and Mexican people are just pawns in this game or death and profit. Things will never change until someone decides to kill all of the participants on both sides of the border. Local Mexican towns and cities found out quickly that when they successfully took on the cartels, the Mexican government would target, branding them criminals, them to protect their Cartel allies from being defeated. Its a sick system and revolution, on both sides of the border is likely the only way to stop it.
Note: US Guns are a very small part of the guns seized in Mexico. Most weapons come from Mexican Army deserters and from South American and Cuba government sources, including Machine Guns, RPG’s and Anti-Aircraft cannons. Not to mention the serial production of (semi-submersible) Submarines, used to smuggle drugs, designed by former Soviet submarine engineers,
thanks, knew about the deserters but didn’t know about the submarines. our cocaine dollars at work.
We could fix this. Just invade Mehico and kill off all those bad Mehicans. We’ve done that before, and it might be time to refresh the lesson.
“the insurgents don’t want to change the existing government, they just want it to leave them alone”
at what point to the cartels become the de facto government?
They already have. All politicians bow to the almighty peso and the threat of death for disobedience.
“Silver or Lead”…
sounds better in spanish – plata o plomo.
They already are and have been since the death of Pablo Escobar.
What about all the drugs and the people from Central and South America, who legally have to seek asylum in the first country they cross into? F!@# Mexico and the horse they rode in on.
a previous administration had them dissuading emigres at the southern crossing.
a subsequent administration encouraged them to drag the gun industry to court.
Why aren’t they suing car manufacturers for the stolen cars that end up in shitxico
I have a ranch that’s literally next to the Rio Grande. They cross through the property mostly at night, never when I’m there. I’ve never been approached by the bad guys. Maybe it’s the Glock on my hip or the AR on my back.
Wait until they break in and they will. Hope they don’t force you to listen to Tejano. But in all seriousness sooner or later you will have a run in with them. Had a friend who they tried to kidnap because they went to the wrong house. He figured they thought he was the guy they hired to drive them further into the US to meet friends and or relatives already here.
Facts and logic do not apply, there is no reliable law in America or Mexico and the courts in both countries only believe in their own constitutions when it is convenient. This is just a robbery using the Courts instead of a gun.
Golly Meh-he-co you got some giant burrito size cahonies…can we bill the bueno bunch for costing us billions each yesr?!? We could have owned them after 1846😕
Agreed.
We need to bill them including all the years of interest for liberating their sorry asses from dictator Santa Ana.
Use the Mexican military to seek and destroy the cartels…the SAME MEXICAN MILITARY armed with AMERICAN MADE WEAPONS AND AMMO..and add the DEATH PENALTY ….
Cartels are like a hydra. Cut off the head, and the neck sprouts three new ones vying for supremacy. As long as there is a market for illegal drugs, prostitution and human trafficking, etc. etc., there will be a syndicate supplying the demand. Nature abhors a vacuum.
P.S.: This was tried in the Philippines by its current president, turning his special forces into nothing but paid assassins dealing out “justice” without trial, and to much international approbation. It would be no different in Mexico. Ask yourself: How many former police officers and army personnel are now members of some of the most vicious drug gangs in the country? That is what will happen; the Army gang will take over all the rackets. Corruption cannot be stamped out so easily.
Already happened. A bunch of Mexican Army special forces formed the Zetas cartel.
one of my kids is a zetas hybrid.
Yes, because all of these US commercial gun maker are totally manufacturing fully automatic machine and rocket launchers that the cartels keep use in their war against the Mexican government.
The kind of funny thing is is that technically a lot of thous heavy military hardware is coming from the US. But it’s all hardware legally exported from the US to the Mexican government directly. But Mexico has such serious corruption problems that a lot of that stuff just ‘falls off the back of the truck’ right into the hands of the Cartels.
Interesting … don’t we have ITAR restrictions that prevents that?
Maybe that’s sanctioned by Soetoro and Holder-the-Hater so as long as THEY sell it via ATF it’s all legal … (???)
We shouldn’t even let their corrupt and politically filthy presence so much as file a case in any US court.
Maybe the US can turn it around and sue Mexico for all the drugs that make it north…..
The sad thing is some useless Clinton/Soetoro era judge that agrees the USA should be reduced to that of third-world countries will rule in Mexico’s favor to pay them off and “helpy da Messican peepuls” in an effort to hurt the US firearms industry and “bring them all finally under (Marxist) control”.
The sorry communists in DC have again gone beyond our borders to help them defeat the patriots of our nation. Daily they add more and more reasons to justify another civil war.
Communists have never recognized national borders in their never ending class struggle.
They do when they think it will benefit their corrupted organized crime agenda.
Solution for Mexico is real simple.
Patrol the USA border with thousands of well armed troops. Permit no southbound illegal crossings.
Build massive inspection facilities at ports of entry, and not just the USA border. Every land, sea, air port of entry. Every person, every vehicle, every package and every shipping container to be emptied and inspected for smuggling.
Greatly enlarge the Mexican navy with coastal patrol boats. American boat makers would be happy to make them, maybe even offer a quantity discount. Intense coastal patrols to catch smugglers.
Greatly enlarge the Mexican air force. Doesn’t require F35 fighter jets. Plenty of smaller, cheaper aircraft can fit a few machine guns and chase after smugglers.
Patrol the Guatemala and Belize borders with thousands of well armed troops. Permit no northbound illegal crossings.
There now, all troubles solved.
Mexico should take off their panties put on their “big-boy” pants and build a big”azz, strong, tall, “impenetrable wall” all along the whole border and patrol it with enough manpower and force to stop the so-called illegal inbound weapons traffic…gee-whiz; doesn’t that kinda sound familiar! Make it a joint venture and solve two problems….illegal alien’s and illegal weapons….dugh!
About walls, it’s not that I disagree. It’s that walls and patrols must be carefully balanced for effectiveness. Too much put into walls without adequate patrol forces is an ineffective expense. Too much spent on patrols without adequate walls gets you the same result. All it means is the professionals must be in charge to balance the two for optimal performance.
Consider that the Berlin Wall spent years of increasing effectiveness. Beginning as a highly porous obstacle and increasingly effective over time. While that was for an evil purpose it does illustrate the learning curve. Study that and apply lessons from it and the effectiveness of our own border security would go way up.
I would bet every one of these companies has lost valuable employees as victims of illegal drugs crossing the US border from Mexico. They need to counter sue for all their losses including increased insurance expenses; if Mexico wants a show trial, these compaines should make sure that they get a bloody lip from it. This has the additional benefit that it could lead to other companies suing Mexico for the same type of losses and really make them sorry they started the whole thing.
What these companies should do is stop selling Guns and Ammo to the Mexican Government due to it’s corruption.
And China will step in. China already makes a AR-15 knockoff known as the CQ.
The way to cut off most arms going to the cartel is to stop selling arms to the Mexican government.
The most effective way for American gun manufacturers to reduce the numbers of their products falling into the hands of the cartels is to stop selling to the Mexican government.
The US drug problem is driven by demand here, not by supply from Latin America. That’s why the War on Drugs is a failure. I propose these remedies:
(1) Legalize everything. Maybe, authorize legitimate pharmaceutical companies to manufacture and sell drugs with guarantees of efficacy and purity. Those dumb enough to continue buying on the street can take their chances.
(2) Spend the money now going to enforcement on treatment for those who truly want to get off drugs. Set a limit on treatment so that it isn’t wasted on those who aren’t serious.
(3) Prescribe opioids as needed to control pain for patients nearing the end of their lives. When someone has a few weeks or months left, it doesn’t matter if they die as junkies.
(4) Treat overdoses as medical emergencies. That doesn’t guarantee survival especially if the addict repeats.
(5) For those who reject help and die a miserable death as a result, give them Darwin Awards and move on.
But you cant have freedom without the Government telling you what you can and cannot put into your body. Just ask Chris he will tell you all about it. Republicans love their war on drugs way too much as it makes so much money for them and their friends.
As I have said before the legalization crowd are liars, when they say crime will go away if drugs are legalized. These are also the same racist people who said “if we could just get drugs legalized there will be no reason for black people to have guns”.
Drugs are legal in the major West Coast cities. And crime is through the roof. Shoplifting crimes are through the roof as well. Because the drug legalization crowd has never supported private property rights. They were behind proposition 47 in California. The drug legalization crowd is socialist Progressive in their political orientation.
And it’s interesting that the drug legalization, and sexually liberated crowds, are huge supporters of a woman having 5 kids from 5 different men and the woman not getting married. These people support the Welfare Industrial Complex. They support removing the father from the home. And replacing the father with a welfare check. And replace the father’s guns with a guns of a big city police department.
The sexually liberated have always supported a large intrusive government welfare system in everyone’s bedroom.
I have always supported drug legalization. As long as I can shoot drug users dead on site when they rob, rape, Steal, break into and or vandalize private property. Or become a general nuisance. For example when they pee and poop in public. Which is something that the drug legalization crowd has supported. When District Attorney’s announced that they would not enforce the laws against urinating in public the drug legalization crowd cheered.
Now that the sexually liberated and the drug legalization crowd have pretty much destroyed the west coast of the United States. They can no longer tolerate what they created in places like San Francisco California. So now they are leaving the “slave states” that they’ve created. And moving to Free States like Texas, Tennessee, and Florida.
I don’t believe people like this deserve Liberty. Because they are not willing to take the responsibility that goes with it. They are certainly not willing to fight or vote for Liberty. It would be better if they were to remain in slave states. And be given by the government they’re “free” crystal meth in the government-funded injection centers. And they’re “free” condoms from the government. And their “free” medical marijuana from the government. Because they like having a big government that gives the “free stuff”.
Free states are kept free and controlled by Republicans. The same Republicans that they hate so much.
btw
The drug legalization crowd did not support the arrest of the shoplifter Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri. Who threated the property owner.
The argument the crime and criminals will disappear when drugs are legalized is pure BS. Did the mafia disappear when prohibition was repealed? No. The mafia kept their already lucrative gambling, loan sharking, prostitution, smuggling, protection, and extortion, and moved into labor racketeering, construction, waste disposal, political corruption, and narcotics.
Criminals will do crime. They will move into other illegal activities.
New legal theory is needed. Apply the Fuckem rule.
Anything can be trafficked into and out of Mexico and a lot of manufacturers are aware of it but that does not make them responsible for it.
I think We need to conquer Mexico. Kill everyone dealing their poison across the border. It is a worthless shithole of a 3rd world country. The very idea that it is allowed to exist as it does is an abomination to all hard working citizens including those from Mexico of which their are many. Unfortunately those in Power in Mexico and the United states are a part of the Cartel that allows it to happen. Either by being active participants or by turning a blind eye to the destruction that originates there. The problems that exist in Mexico and the United States will Never be solved by politicians or bureaucrats. It’s not a part of the Ideology regardless of party. The rely on Chaos and Destruction as a reasoning for their existence along with blaming the other side for it’s creation or lack of elimination. Until the people wisen up and realize it’s up to them and not the politicians to fix the Ills of both countries nothing will ever change. Not since “We the People” through off the Tyranny of the English Crown has there been a need to once again throw off those who control the lives and destiny of the citizenry. While the system of government enacted after the Revolutionary War was considered the best possible for the times. The true danger was in those allowed to Bastardize it’s concepts for their own Power and Control over the ‘People’. Which has brought Our Society to the Point of Chaos we witness each day. When those entrusted with the citizens trust, dishonor that trust it is not only Our Obligation to remove them by all means necessary from Power. It is also Our Right. To do less is simple the Cowardice that perpetrates Our Societies continued destruction and eventual End. History has shown this to be true for all of the great civilizations of the past. Ours will hold no special place in the annals of time except to be remembered as another civilization that died as a result of the failure of it’s people. To protect it from themselves and their own apathy.
So Bloomberg’s been down to Mexico .
Did he think about “buying Mexican” but realized it was a poor investment?
$1 says El Chapo helped buy the lawyers
So they ‘illegally’ sneak them into Mexico and it’s the manufacturer’s fault.
It’s time for US families to form a class action lawsuit against Mexico for destroying their lives due to rampart drug exportation to the US. More people are being murdered slowly here in their sales territories than shot to death there.
Any U.S. citizen found aiding and abetting a foreign government by attempting to destabilize America by undermining the U.S. Constitution, by any means, should be charged with sedition and/or treason. Whoever can to tied to this lawsuit should be investigated for the possibility of attempting to interfere with domestic politics within the U.S. with the goal of betraying the U.S. Constitution.
It could be argued that a successful lawsuit involving the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would result in the disempowerment of American citizens in relation to their government. Such undermining carried out by a foreign government with assistance from U.S. citizens (and gov’t officials) would be considered a coup, and everyone involved would be guilty of treason and/or seditious conspiracy.
I believe this would be the proper approach to dealing with this egregious misapplication of lawfare.
Chairman Mao said “power flows out the end of a gun barrel”. And the Mexican drug cartels are not going to be giving up their power. The idea that they would give up their guns and violence if drugs are made legal just shows how really stupid the drug legalization crowd really is.
The drug cartels are already moving into the legal avocado farming business. And they have murdered 19 avocado farmers and Counting.
Go ahead and make drugs legal. Stop lying to people and telling them that if drugs are made legal all crime will stop. And the criminals will become nice people
Just so everyone is prepared: What I expect to happen is the Biden admin to either intervene or file amicus briefs in this lawsuit, basically collude with the lawyers, then enter into one of those settlements where they obtain through lawsuit what they could not get through Congress/rule-making. Obama perfected this approach in environmental lawsuits. Biden admin will probably get some settlement that diminishes PLCAA.
The five companies should agree in a settlement to stop all sales to parties with Hispanic names.
How about the US sues the Mexican government for 50 years of active participation of gangs, meth, cocaine and fentanyl coming across the border?
It’s funny how sig isn’t on there list oh wait they are supplying the U.S. military so that would tie them into our U.S. government who is also probably funding the suit.
Stop buying Mexican goods !
One would assume that the government of Mexico is aware of the fact that automobiled manufactured there will be used by criminals, drunk drivers and so forth. Perhaps the U.S. government should bring legal action against Mexico regarding their all to obvious negligence, turnabout being fair play.
Well Mexico busy sue other gun Mfg Sig Sauer busy selling them there automatic assault rifles to them. With Us govement blessing. That why there not being sue.
A man handles a rifle inside of the Sig Sauer booth during the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana© Reuters/LUCAS JACKSON FILE PHOTO: A man handles a rifle inside of the Sig Sauer booth during the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The small arms maker Sig Sauer Inc has sought U.S. approval to sell millions of dollars’ worth of automatic assault rifles to the armed services of Mexico in a deal that will help to modernize the country’s military, people familiar with the situation said.
The U.S. Congress was notified last week that the Mexican Navy and Naval Infantry are in line to purchase as much as $5.5 million worth of automatic rifles made by Sig Sauer.
The deal could be controversial because in the past weapons sold to Mexican authorities have found their way into the hands of criminals. Mexico’s drug war violence has largely been carried out with weapons from the United States, imported both legally and illegally.
Weapons that contain some parts or intellectual property from the United States fall under U.S. export control rules, requiring approval.
Sig Sauer and the Mexican embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Based in New Hampshire, privately held Sig Sauer Inc. is the largest member of L&O Holdings, a worldwide business group of firearms manufacturers that includes J.P. Sauer & Sohn and Blaser Gmbh in Germany.
“We are restricted under Federal law and regulations from confirming the licensing status of U.S. companies or entities or speaking to specific details on individual defense trade export licensing cases,” a State Department spokesperson said.
There are two major ways foreign governments purchase arms from U.S. companies: direct commercial sales negotiated between a government and a company; and foreign military sales, in which a foreign government typically contacts a Department of Defense official at the U.S. embassy in their capital.
Both require approval by the U.S. government.
Hell sue us ? We need to be suing Mexico for all the criminals they send us.
This liberal Mexican government would get along just fine with the Biden Administration – both gun haters who fail to take care of the real problems in their countries. They fail to acknowledge what’s point out in this article about the Obama/Biden administration, which create the big problem of murders in Mexico. Take are of the cartel Mexico then your murder rate will decline greatly; however this appears to be impossible for Mexico. They have police and others in authority who accept cartel bribes. Clean up your own house first Mexico!
If the government of Mexico wanted to bring legal action against those responsible, it would have filed suit against itself. No sign of such action, is there?
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