Mexico Takes Step To Curb Source of Domestic Violence— Firearms Coming From the U.S.

Mexico has faced one of the deadliest chapters in its history in recent decades, with violence rampaging its streets, drug cartels exponentially gaining power and homicides remaining high. But as the Mexican government tries to remedy itself, they are seeking to curb one important aspect in its source of violence— firearms coming from the U.S.

Like the U.S., Mexico's constitution grants its citizens the right to bear arms, though that right comes with a long list of restrictions, unlike its northern neighbor. This has led to an estimated 200,000 to half million U.S. firearms to be smuggled into Mexico each year.

The trend has inspired the Mexican government to file two lawsuits, according to a new CBS News report. The first, in 2021, included U.S. gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson and one of their wholesalers. The second, filed a year later, against five U.S. gun stores, claimed they engaged in "reckless and unlawful business practices" that supply dangerous criminals.

"If you think fentanyl overdoses are a problem, if you think migration across the border is a problem, if you think the spread of organized crime is a problem in the United States, then you should care about stopping the crime gun pipeline to Mexico," said Jonathan Lowy, an American attorney hired by Mexico to help cut off the gun pipeline, known as the "river iron." "And you need to stop it at its source. Because all those problems are driven by the supply of U.S. guns to the cartels."

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) traces a gun when it is recovered at a crime scene. Most of the guns the ATF traced in Mexico were sold directly to traffickers or to so-called "straw purchasers," someone who buys a firearm on behalf of another person, according to CBS News. The ATF traced 50,000 American guns recovered in Mexico from 2015 to 2022 to gun dealers across the U.S.

"You're offering a 23-year-old girl in Arizona $4,000, $5,000 just to go into a store and buy a gun for you," Tim Sloan, who served as attaché in for the ATF in Mexico from 2019-2022 said. "She's going to do that. A lot of people are going to do that, especially if they have any addiction problems, but no criminal record."

If buyers do not have a criminal history, they can buy as many guns they want in certain states. After that, they simply cross the border and deliver the firearms, Sloan explains.

Mexico's lawsuit names just five dealers, all from Arizona. Alejandro Celorio, the attorney who spearheaded the lawsuits for the Mexican government, said he believes those dealers are liable for facilitating the arms trafficking that empowers the cartels. The five gun shops named in the suit were selected based on who Mexico believes are "the bad actors in this dynamic," Celorio said.

Mexico is arguing Smith & Wesson's manufacturer is "aiding and abetting" gun trafficking to the cartels. Smith & Wesson, by contrast, called the allegation "not true."

"When manufacturers make the decision, 'we're going to sell guns through dealers no matter what their record is, no matter how many crime guns they're selling,' you know, that's on them," Lowy said.

If Mexico's lawsuit is successful, the 60 Minutes investigation predicts, it could open the door for more lawsuits, foreign and domestic, against the gun industry. Earlier this year, gun manufacturers successfully petitioned the Supreme Court to review the case. They argued they could face years of costly litigation by another country that's "trying to bully the industry into adopting a host of gun control measures."

The Court agreed back in October to take the case, but there have been little updates since.