Mexico explores lawsuits against U.S. gun makers to stem flow of illegal arms



Frustrated: Mexican President Felipe Calderon accuses U.S. gun makers of not doing enough to stem the tide of weapons into his country

Mexico is tired of being the bang bang club, as guns are used in drug crimes in unprecedented numbers.

The Mexican government alleges that widespread killing is being fuelled by a flood of U.S.-made weapons south of the border, and they have retained a high-powered American law firm to explore holding gun manufacturers accountable.

Sources told CBS News that Mexico's frustration with U.S. efforts to stop the flow of weapons 'has pushed them into this novel approach'.



The U.S. law firm is reportedly looking at civil charges, including civil RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations).



According to CBS, a representative of Mexico's Attorney General signed a contract on November 2, 2010 at their Washington embassy to retain the services of New York-based Reid Collins & Tsai.

Also in November, Mexican President Felipe Calderon told CBS News correspondent Peter Greenberg: 'We seized more than 90,000 weapons... I am talking like 50,000 assault weapons, AR-15 machine guns, more than 8,000 grenades and almost 10 million bullets.



'Amazing figures and according to all those cases, the ones we are able to track, most of these are American weapons'.

Seized: Mr Calderon said his government has recently confiscated more than 90,000 weapons, including 50,000 assault rifles, 8,000 grenades and almost 10 million bullets

Border control: Despite tightened security, the U.S.-Mexico border remains porous to smugglers

Mexico reported 15,273 drug-related killings in 2010, during a period of intense violence that has often caught up with innocent civilians and journalists, as well as law enforcement - both honest and corrupt.

In fact, the violence has gotten so bad that many Mexican towns have had trouble recruiting mayors and police chiefs, which in some cases have been marked for assassination hours after taking office.



Previously peaceful border towns have been turned into war zones, as heavily armed gangs shoot it out with each other for control of turf, or battle with Mexican and U.S. security forces.

More than 30,000 people have died in drug violence in Mexico since December 2006, when President Calderon announced a major effort against crime.



In a new approach to stem the violence, sources told CBS that Mexican investigators will start tracking serial numbers of guns seized in the country.

Massacre: Mexican soldiers guard the scene of a recent shooting of 19 people, including 8 children, in Baja California. Authorities say it was drug related

Loss: Forty-five Mayan Indian peasants were shot to death in rural Mexico in 1997, in a country that has long seen too many funerals

The authorities allegedly want to start building a case against U.S. manufacturers and distributors.

Predictably, the U.S. gun industry is not pleased with the report.



Some point to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a U.S. federal law passed in 2005 that they claim would bar such lawsuits against them.



Richard Feldman, President of the Independent Firearms Association, told CBS: 'Maybe we should be suing the Mexican government for their failure to prevent drugs from coming into our country'.

As the war on drugs continues to light up the long U.S.-Mexico border, there is likely to be more fronts being drawn, from courtrooms to legislatures and in the field.

Murdered: Two men were killed in Acapulco, Mexico, on February 5, 2011. More than 30,000 people have died in drug violence in Mexico since December 2006







