Arizona gun sellers search to dismiss Mexico’s arms trafficking go well with

By Nate Raymond and Brendan O’Boyle

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – 5 U.S. gun sellers filed a movement late Friday in a U.S. court docket to dismiss a lawsuit by Mexico accusing them of collaborating in illicit weapons trafficking.

Mexico’s authorities filed the go well with in October, arguing that the 5 sellers in Arizona had been liable for promoting weapons. It mentioned that these weapons ended up within the possession of people that moved them throughout the close by border with Mexico.

Mexico has strict gun legal guidelines, however the authorities alleges that drug cartels use weapons bought in the US to commit crimes in Mexico.

The movement, filed in a U.S. district court docket in Arizona, says the sellers are protected by the U.S. Safety of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a 2005 regulation that shields gun makers and sellers from legal responsibility when their merchandise are utilized in a criminal offense.

Mexico’s lawsuit towards the sellers in October got here days after a U.S. federal choose in late September dismissed Mexico’s historic $10 billion lawsuit towards U.S. gun producers searching for to carry them liable for facilitating the trafficking of weapons to drug cartels.

The choose in that case cited the PLCAA in his determination, which Mexico is interesting.

“As anticipated, the defendants argue that they’ll proceed to promote weapons to anybody,” mentioned Alejandro Celorio, high authorized adviser for Mexico’s international ministry.

“They level out that there’s nothing the Mexican authorities can do to cease it or maintain them accountable,” he instructed Reuters on Saturday.

Celorio instructed Reuters in October that Mexico’s lawsuits intention to handle the “root causes” of gun violence in Mexico.

Attorneys for the defendants didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.