Honestly, I was not intending to write this morning, but The McCarville Report is reporting about this and I just couldn’t ignore it. I am sure the readers of Political Realities know full well about the drug violence in Mexico, our dear neighbors to the south. The drug cartels are running rampant and the Mexican government is virtually powerless to put much of a hiatus on their activities, much less stop them altogether. Part of the reason behind that inability is the fact that the drug cartels are very well armed and I have no doubt many of us are well aware of how President Obama and the Mexican government has blamed Americans for sending firearms across the border. Of course, it is the fact that firearms are easily accessible in the United States that is causing the problems in Mexico, or so we are told. When you look at the actual numbers of the firearms that are traced back to their origins, that fact turns out to be not so true, but that is a topic for another post. CBS News is reporting that the Mexican government has retained an American law firm to prepare a possible lawsuit against American firearms manufacturers.
CBS News has learned that the Mexican Government has retained an American law firm to explore filing civil charges against U.S. gun manufacturers and distributors over the flood of guns crossing the border into Mexico.
Sources say Mexico’s frustration with U.S. efforts to stop the flow of weapons has pushed them into this novel approach. The law firm is looking at charges that may include civil RICO. The contract was signed on November 2, 2010 by a representative of Mexico’s Attorney General, at their Washington embassy.
On November 5, 2010 President Felipe Calderon expressed his frustration to CBS News correspondent Peter Greenberg: “We seized more than 90,000 weapons…I am talking like 50,000 assault weapons, AR-15 machine guns, more than 8,000 grenades and almost 10 million bullets. Amazing figures and according to all those cases, the ones we are able to track, most of these are American weapons.”
According to sources, investigators will obtain makes and serial numbers of guns seized by Mexican authorities and trace them to their U.S. distributors and manufacturers.
Okay, I take it back. I will address the theory that the guns in Mexico all or mostly come from America. What they fail to note is the fact that
they are unable to trace the majority of the firearms back to their place of origin. To hear them tell it, you would think all of them come from our country and that has not been proven. In fact, there is evidence to the contrary, but you will never hear that from the Mexicans or the current occupants of the White House.
Going back to the lawsuit, I fail to see where they have a leg to stand on. For all of you who are not aware of how a gun works, it is an inanimate object until a human being picks it up and pulls the trigger. Contrary to popular belief, they are not inherently evil and they do not cause problems. For the Mexican government to imply they are going to hold Ruger, Smith & Wesson, or any other firearms manufacturer responsible for what is happening in Mexico is more than a little ludicrous. It is downright preposterous. Following their logic, General Motors, Ford, or Chrysler could be sued because they manufactured a vehicle that was used in a drunk driving incident. When is the last time that happened?
I don’t pretend to know a lot about the law and how lawsuits are considered, so someone will have to tell me how our southern neighbors even have a leg to stand on. Again, following the twisted path of their own logic, why doesn’t the American government prepare a lawsuit against the Mexican government, as they seem to be incapable or unwilling to stop the flow of drugs across the border? Doesn’t that compute, just as much as the Mexican government trying to sue an American company for the damage one of their products has done in Mexico? Maybe it does for some people, but in my simple way of thinking, if the Mexican government goes ahead with this lawsuit, our court system should laugh them out of town.
I can’t wait to see how this turns out. It’s bound to be a blast.
Related Posts
Saturday, May 4, 2013 -- If You Think Gun Control Is Finished, Think Again
Thursday, May 2, 2013 -- Mexico – The Other Side Of the Immigration Coin
Saturday, February 23, 2013 -- Black Leaders Advocate For Gun Rights
Sunday, January 20, 2013 -- Guns Across America Rallies Support For 2nd Amendment
Thursday, January 17, 2013 -- President Obama – Ginning Up Fear
Saturday, April 13, 2013 -- Coburn Defends Vote To Hear Gun Control Bill
I’d be surprised if this ever went to court. The premise is ridiculous and the target is wrong. However, if they were able to identify the actual source of the weapons, meaning the gun dealers who sold the weapons to people who then took them illegally across the border, then they would have a case. The manufacturers? No way.
I wouldn’t have a problem with them going after the people who are moving the guns across the border, but the dealers would be a different matter. If they are selling the guns illegally, then yes, there is a case. If they are selling them legally and following the law, then I don’t see how they could be held accountable.
One thing to remember is that the Obama administration and the Mexican government would like us to believe the vast majority of the guns come from American dealers and yet they are far from proving that. They like to throw the percentages around, but when you dig into those numbers, you find they are not so defining as they would have us believe.
I agree Larry; if the dealers are selling the guns legally and are abiding by all laws when they do so they should not be punished either. We need to stop the people who are supplying the guns to Mexico and bring them to justice.
Something doesn’t add up. If one or a few gun distributors are selling an inordinate amount of guns and ammo, why wouldn’ thet ATF already be looking into them?
You would think they would be aware of that, if it were happening.
I’m really not sure what they’re trying to accomplish with this. It would be one thing if gun companies were physically sending the guns to Mexico, then the country itself would have a leg to stand on (arms importation being something government should have a say in).
But if these guns are being sent to Mexico through illegal channels, then what the heck are they trying to do? Are they trying to shut the companies down or what? If this is their reasoning, then it’s just another example of trying to shirk personal responsibility for political gain, as you so eloquently put it.
I think they are just trying to muddy the waters, Jack. I fail to see how they have a legal leg to stand on in going after companies such as Ruger, Smith & Wesson, etc. I have no doubt, however, that they would just as soon see them shut down as not. They could very well be attempting to shy away from some of the responsibility they have for not taking care of their own business. Naturally, they want to get into ours, as President Felipe Calderon has shown more than once.
The complexity of the immigration issue bears many dangers for both parties – Democrats and Republicans. It bears an even higher danger for Tea Partiers and Libertarians, and consequently for Republicans. The subject of gun running, or arms smuggling, is only a sub-set of the general problem. The general issue won’t be able to find a permanent solution as long as one side insists that it must win in all the sub-set issues.
It would be foolish for the right to sacrifice the values that they hold most dear – and which are essential to the survival of the exceptionalism of the country – by getting side-tracked on the peripheral issues of the immigration problems – of which gun-running is only one of many.
If the Right persists in telling 50 million Americans (Hispanic population – and voters I may add – and growing faster than any other sector) that they are second class citizens or that they are under-appreciated, the right will stay a second class power in Washington for as long as that attitude persists.
Marco Rubio has expressed as much, and Marco Rubio is right and the best hope of the Right when we become too inflexible.
All of what you say may be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Mexican government has no business trying to file a lawsuit against American firearms manufacturers. I feel they are just trying to shirk their failure to live up to their own responsibilities.
The Mexican government has a strong case, not against the manufacturers, but the United States government. Are you aware of “Project gunrunner?” the ATF is allowing the cartels to purchase those weapons in the United States and take them back to Mexico, the idea being to supposedly track where the guns end up. Of course, they’ll need to be used in a crime before they can do that. Congress is already investigating, but the Justice Department is stonewalling on releasing documents. Look it up. We are actually arming the drug cartels.
The world is a stwisted place.
I have read some of the reports about that. Isn’t the ATF claiming they are trying to use the guns to trace them back to their origin?
Right. But the guns need to used in a crime and then left behind. In other words, somebody needs to die before they can trace them.
Sounds to me like they are less concerned about stopping the guns than they are about tracing them. Otherwise, one would think they would be able to stop them from crossing the border.
First off, even if they could prove a number of American weapons were sent across the border illegally then their beef shouldn’t be with the gun manufacturers, it should be with the federal government. After all it wasn’t that long ago when a federal agent blew the whistle on his agency for allowing American weapons to be walked across the Mexican border while the government sat back as it happened. What worries me about this is we did have a judge give Mexico along with a number of other Latin America countries standing in the federal case against Arizona’s immigration enforcement law. I personally thought it was outrageous, but a federal judge permitted it. So who know what may happen in this. Great post Larry.
You would think that would be the case, but some of the things they allow in the courtroom make me question my small understanding of the law. The idea that a judge gave Mexico and other Latin American countries standing in the Arizona case makes me wonder.
If the Mexican Government would clean out the drug cartels, they would not have a gun problem.
That is very true, Jerry. I think they would rather put the monkey on our back instead of cleaning up their own mess.
The Mexican government doesn’t have to worry about cleaning out the drug cartels. Our government is doing it for them. By lettiing them come and go, almost as they please, across our southern border. Their cartels are living all over our country.
This is only happening because they know the Obama administration will be on their side.
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