US States, Caribbean Nations Again Mexico’s Attraction in Arms Lawsuit

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Sixteen U.S. states and a handful of Caribbean governments on Tuesday expressed assist for Mexico’s attraction in a civil lawsuit towards U.S. gun producers.

The states, which all have Democratic attorneys normal, in addition to the District of Columbia, filed an amicus curiae temporary in a U.S. courtroom on Tuesday, whereas the nations of Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago joined a separate amicus curiae temporary.

Mexico stated final week it had filed an attraction in a $10 billion lawsuit in search of to carry U.S. gun makers answerable for facilitating the trafficking of lethal weapons throughout the border.

A U.S. choose dismissed the lawsuit in September, citing a U.S. regulation that protects arms manufactures from being held accountable for crimes dedicated with their merchandise.

The temporary from the U.S. states argues the choose’s choice was “premised on a misreading” of that regulation.

The temporary from the Caribbean governments, which was joined by a community of non-governmental organizations, follows a summit amongst regional leaders final month held within the Bahamas, the place arms trafficking was a key matter.

U.S. officers in August famous a spike in weapons smuggling to Haiti and the Caribbean in earlier months.

The states submitting the temporary had been California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Boyle, Kylie Madry and Jasper Ward; Modifying by Bradley Perrett)

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