Mexico said that it filed a second lawsuit Monday against the U,S, firearms industry, after a Massachusetts court last month dismissed its first $10-billion case against gunmakers.
The new suit brought in the border state of Arizona seeks sanctions against five dealers which sold guns that were used in serious crimes in Mexico, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said.
"It's evident that there is arms trafficking, and that it's known that these weapons are aimed at our country," Ebrard said in a video posted on social media.
If the United States wants Mexico to cooperate in the war on drugs, "we also want them to help us by reducing this flow of weapons that does us a lot of harm" he added.
The case, filed in a federal district court in Tucson, targets Diamondback Shooting Sports, SNG Tactical, Loan Prairie, Ammo A-Z and Sprague's Sports, the foreign ministry said.
Mexico filed a first lawsuit in August 2021 against nine US gun manufacturers and two distributors for what it deemed a "negligent and illicit" trade that encourages drug trafficking and violence in its territory.
But a judge in Boston ruled September 30 that the nation's claims failed to overcome the extensive protections offered to firearm makers by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, passed by the US Congress in 2005.
Mexico tightly controls weapons sales, making them practically impossible to obtain legally, but drug-related violence involving firearms remains widespread.
More than half a million weapons are trafficked into Mexico from the United States annually, according to the government of the Latin American nation.
Mexico has seen more than 340,000 murders since 2006 when it deployed the military in the fight on drugs trafficking, most of them blamed on criminal gangs.
Copyright 2022, Agence France-Presse
