Mexico Wants to Sue US Gun Makers

[Sam1911]

What about the guns allegedly furnished by the ATF???

I had said...

(Now, I could see some validity in the Mexican government suing the ATF under RICO for the Gunwalker scandal ...but that would probably end badly.)

I'm just not sure even the Mexican government thinks they'll get any traction out of trying to sue an agency of the federal government for racketeering.

 

[MtnCreek]

I'm sure the DEA, etc., would LOVE to get the illegal drug cartels in federal court here in the US. But then the RICO charge would make sense because there is a deliberate criminal enterprise focused on producing and distributing an illegal product. But there's no effective ability to arrest and convict those persons at the moment, so it's a moot point. File suit all you want, they aren't going to show up for trial

That's probably what Manuel Noriega was counting on. Didn't work out so well for him.

 

[Sam1911]

That's probably what Manuel Noriega was counting on. Didn't work out so well for him.

True enough, but we're still talking about suing someone for criminal enterprises (though it does get fuzzy when the criminals are the government).

How do you sue a company for racketeering (organized crime, criminal conspiracy) when no law has been broken by that entity and/or it's distributors?

ETA: I suppose the theory is that they are engaging in this activity with the knowledge that some of their guns will be sold/used illegally and so their continued sales practices make them complicit with those crimes, however many times removed they may be from the actual criminal act.

However, I believe it is a well-established principle that, if you are following the law, and your product and actions can be/are sold/used commonly is completely legal ways (in other words, you aren't solely providing weapons to criminals, but to a (much greater) number of law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes) that you won't be held accountable for what some end user/purchaser might chose to do with your product.

 

[1911Tuner]

Maybe we should countersue for all that pot and cocaine. Quid pro quo, anyone?

 

[Harley Quinn]

Looks like Obama is doing a backdoor entry, and has an agenda with this mention

From the News page of their web site:
RCT Partner Appointed to Federal Bench
President Obama has appointed Reid Collins & Tsai partner Marina Garcia Marmolejo as a U.S. District Judge pending confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

The NRA mag Rifleman has few good articles in latest mag about the situation with border, purchasing, and problems, with the rifles that went down there how it happened and who is really to blame...Good read imho

 

[nwilliams]

So does this mean the US can we sue Mexico for flooding our country with illegal immigrants?

Mexico should do a better job of policing it's own borders and dealing with the drug dealers in their country instead of making excuses and blaming other countries.

 

[Sheldon J]

So does this mean the US can we sue Mexico for flooding our country with illegal immigrants?

and drugs, criminals, n murders, to name a few of the heinous things they have openly allowed...

I agree federal law prohibits, so other than making a lawyer rich they are at a dead end there... Further since you cannot sue the Government the ATF is in the clear too....

 

[ErikO]

You sure as heck can sue the govermnet, you just have a very low chance of success.

 

[jon_in_wv]

I'm all for cutting off any and ALL gun trade with Mexico. They love to arm themselves with our weapons then blame us for all their problems. Maybe we can trade all our guns back for all their criminals that are clogging up our criminal justice system.

 

[jbrown50]

It's simply gandstanding by Calderon. It's Probably some sort of deal that he made with our anti-gun politicians during his last visit here in the US.

He knows that The Protection Of Law Commerce In Arms Act stands in the way but they're "fishing" to see if there's some sort of loophole it the law that could allow a foreign government or entity to get around it.

1911 Turner,
You're right.....there's Quid pro quo going on here, except it's between Calderon and our anti-gun elected officials.

 

[Yo Mama]

It's time to start acting like Taco Bell. Let's sue Mexico.

 

[1911Tuner]

Quote:

>1911 Turner,
You're right.....there's Quid pro quo going on here, except it's between Calderon and our anti-gun elected officials.<

Well, sure it is. When the news of the ATF gunrunning scandal broke, I said:

"Of course! How simple. Make sure American guns go into Mexico so it can be "proven" that our guns are the problem so that stricter legislation will be easier to pass."

"They" think that we're all too stupid to catch on to that. The sad thing is that so many are just that stupid.

 

[Sebastian the Ibis]

El Gobierno de Mexico,

Hire Me! For half the price of that fancy-pants New York Law firm, I'll tell you what any honest lawyer would - you have no case.

First federal law bans these sorts of cases, second you have no damages - how does manufacturing advertising and selling a gun to a distributor cause any damage to the government of Mexico? It doesn't! The intervening criminal act of a criminal acquiring the gun and shooting someone is what caused your damages - sue them.

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

It's a NY law firm, right? Any bets that Bloomberg has something to do with this?

Woody

 

[Guns and more]

It's a back door way to get rid of guns.
Get the manufacturers to fold under pressure of frivolous lawsuits.
Don't expect Eric Holder to be on your side.
It may be his idea.

 

[wojownik]

Yes, a NY based law firm, with offices across the nation. Some of the founding partners hail originally from Texas. Their specialities seem to get into financial fraud (including international) and forensic accounting ... tracking money flows, domestically and internationally. Choice of the law firm might hint at the angle of attack they'll take against against gun manufacturers. Maybe the RICO claim based on some purported financial fingerprints ... They have one attorney with an interesting background, I'd guess she'd be part of the team - she was born in Mexico, served as a US prosecutor, did some good work prosecuting public corruption cases. Currently working on "investigating RICO and money laundering on behalf of foreign sovereigns"

 

[Black Butte]

File suit all you want, they aren't going to show up for trial.

The initial comment was an attempt at levity. That being said, whether the Mexican drug cartels show up for trial or not is immaterial. We would have ammunition, so to speak, to counter Felipe Calderón when he whines like a little girl in front of Congress, trying to deflect blame by advocating for the removal of our Second Amendment rights. We should stop sending billions of dollars to Mexico, using the money instead to militarize our border and create American jobs guaranteeing that no drugs come north and no guns go south.

In the alternative, we should just annex the whole damn country. They all want to be American citizens anyway and we're already paying their bills. That way, at least we get the land and resources and we can replace their failed, corrupt system of government. Mexico would be prosperous once again as a tourist destination, and our resulting southern border in Central America would be much shorter and easier to police.

Big problems require bold solutions. Nothing gets done here because our Capitol is infested with sissies, concerned only with themselves and the interests of their party over the well-being of the country.

 

[Neverwinter]

In the alternative, we should just annex the whole damn country. They all want to be American citizens anyway and we're already paying their bills. That way, at least we get the land and resources and we can replace their failed, corrupt system of government. Mexico would be prosperous once again as a tourist destination, and our resulting southern border in Central America would be much shorter and easier to police.

They're also the sixth largest oil producer in the world. SCORE!

 

[Sam1911]

Let's wait to comment further until something actually happens with this.

If all it turns out to be is a wily law firm making a few hundred thousand off the Mexican government to produce a feasibility study which concludes with the phrase "No Chance," that's great. If this actually turns into a lawsuit, we can revisit it.

Ranting about taking over Mexico, shipping home immigrants, or suing Mexican criminal gangs really aren't proactive.