In recent decades, the differences between Democrats and Republicans have become increasingly more obvious. While not every party member always toes the line on party agenda items, certain things are usually a given. Democrats are, usually, pro-choice, anti-gun, and pro-big government. In contrast, Republicans tend to be pro-Second Amendment, pro-life, and in favor of limited government interference.
There are exceptions to these seemingly unwritten rules, like my father-in-law, who is a staunch and life-long Democrat but as a veteran is very much in favor of our Second Amendment rights.
However, it can be rare to find such exceptions. And that is why it shouldn’t surprise many of us that no less than 13 states, all democratically run and lead, are joining the Mexican government in suing a number of American gun manufacturers for their supposed role in increasing violence and crime rates.
The basic idea, of course, is to change American gun laws to be more limiting, both in the U.S. and in foreign nations like Mexico.
According to the lawsuit, Mexico is accusing manufacturers such as Smith & Wesson, Colt, Ruger, Glock, and others of violating our southern neighbor’s import laws. Mexico claims that “nearly half of all crime guns recovered in Mexico” come from these American companies. And as such, the nation blames them for increasing crime.
As you may know, Mexico used to and technically still does have a legal right that is similar to the Second Amendment, giving people the right to own and bear arms. However, as the country has become more left-leaning in recent years, new laws have made legal gun ownership nearly impossible.
According to the Los Angeles Times, it can take months of background checks before someone is deemed eligible to own a gun in the nation. In addition, there is only one legal gun store located on a military base in the whole of Mexico. Suffice it to say that legally owning a gun there isn’t possible for far too many and too much of a hassle for far too many others.
And yet, Mexico has even higher gun violence rates than the U.S., which, of course, is at least in great part due to the presence of drug cartels and other criminal organizations.
But apparently, rather than working harder to stop such violence in their own nation, they are laying the blame on the U.S. and its firearm producers, who have no shortage of enemies among the liberal left.
When the original lawsuit was filed by Mexico, Smith & Wesson moved to get the case dismissed and likely would have succeeded, seeing as how foreign entities have no real standing on how the U.S. handles its domestic laws on any matter, firearms or otherwise.
But before the case could be dismissed, Mexico recruited some help.
According to January court documents published by Just Security, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, California, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia are now listed as amicus parties, backing up Mexico’s claims.
And while this does give Mexico seemingly more standing in court, it doesn’t necessarily increase their odds of winning the lawsuit, despite the fact that they filed it with a District of Massachusetts court, where favorability for anti-gun laws tends to be higher.
This, of course, could be because their lawsuit demands that manufacturers begin to limit both production and distribution of their products, which, in turn, will dramatically limit the number of American jobs and livelihoods they contribute to the economy. No doubt, there will be no small number of American workers who are outraged that these states are actively trying to take away not only their gun rights but also their ability to provide for their families.
It is also noted that for many of these firearm manufacturers, such as Remington, their factories have been located in more liberal states like New York for the better part of two centuries. And yet, now they and their workers are suddenly no longer welcome.
Remington, in particular, has recently decided to pick up their long-held roots in upstate New York and move their headquarters to a state that is much more favorable towards gun rights and the livelihoods of the thousands they employ.
As I said, the case has great potential to be another epic failure for gun control.
