VIEW LARGER Border officials in Nogales seized more than a dozen assault rifles, a record for the year, and nearly 10,000 rounds of AK-style ammunition during the second week in June. The weapons and ammunition were being smuggled into Mexico. Co-counsel for Mexico Jonathan Lowy says Mexico is the first sovereign nation in the world to bring civil liability action against the gun industry.
“If Mexico is successful in its suit, and I think it will be, that will reduce gun violence on both sides of the border,” Lowy said. “What Mexico is trying to do is to prevent the flow of crime guns from members of the gun industry, and those guns flow into communities in Arizona and across the United States as well as across the border into Mexico.”
In the last three-and-a-half years, border officials seized more than 46-hundred firearms and a million rounds of ammunition heading for Mexico. About 40% were leaving Arizona.
Three of the gun dealers named in Mexico’s lawsuit are in Tucson — Diamondback, SnG Tactical, and The Hub. The case also names Ammo AZ in Phoenix and Sprague’s Sports in Yuma.
Monday’s ruling follows the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston upholding a related case a few weeks ago against firearm manufacturers.
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