America’s gun epidemic isn’t just affecting America. The nation’s southern neighbor, Mexico, has its own chronic violence crisis — one fueled mostly by firearms brought in from the United States. The Mexican government is now suing 10 U.S. gunmakers over the violence.
That suit appears to have little chance of success, in part because of the same federal law that generally prevents Americans from suing gunmakers for the mayhem their products help cause. But if the lawsuit highlights the absurdity of that law and bolsters the argument of the Biden administration and others who say it should be repealed, it would go a long way toward bringing sanity to federal gun statutes.
Mexico is awash in gun violence driven largely by drug cartels wielding American-made weapons. Some 70% of guns confiscated in Mexico have been traced to U.S. origins. The guns are mostly smuggled over the border, which might seem on its face to relieve the gun manufacturers of culpability. However, the Mexican government argues in its suit, those manufacturers are helping drive illegal arms smuggling in several ways.
