Editorial | Holding gunmakers accountable

Mexico made a bold move earlier this week when it filed a lawsuit against 11 United States (US) gun manufacturers, whom it accused of actively facilitating the unlawful trafficking of guns to drug cartels over many decades.

The lawsuit was filed in Federal Court in the State of Massachusetts against gunmakers, including Colt, Beretta USA, Glock, and Smith & Wesson. Mexico is seeking compensation of US$10 billion for what it called gun manufacturers’ reckless practices. The suit is also asking for tighter control on gun sales and better security features on weapons.

This first-of-a-kind lawsuit is being keenly watched by groups such as Violence Policy Center, a US non-profit gun control group which has repeatedly demanded that US gun manufacturers be held accountable for the devastation and grief they have caused in other countries.

It’s the kind of move our Government should also be watching, even as we celebrate 59 years of political Independence. Over these years, we have got many things right. However, we are still baffled by the means of getting crime under control. Crime and violence, fuelled by heavily armed gangs, is often cited as having hampered the island’s development over the years. Estimates of the cost of criminal activity to Jamaica range from 3.7 per cent to 7.1 per cent of GDP, with experts estimating that the economy is a third of the size it ought to be.

So crime and violence has damaged the economy while giving a black eye to Jamaica as one of the most murderous countries in the world, which consistently records more than 1,000 deaths each year because of gun violence. Like Mexico, Jamaica does not manufacture guns and ammunition.

MAJORITY OF WEAPONS COMING FROM THE US

Mexico alleges that more than 500,000 firearms are trafficked into their country annually, with about 90 per cent coming from the US. In the case of Jamaica, anecdotal evidence suggests that the majority of illegal weapons reaching our shores originated in the US.

It is true that manufacturers may indirectly put a gun in the hand of gangsters, but they are not the ones pulling the trigger. However, as Mexico is alleging, the manufacturers are designing weapons so they can be easily modified to fire automatically, and are readily transferable in the criminal underworld, then they bear some responsibility.

The Mexicans say they have been studying the problem for more than two years. As a precedent, they are holding up a recent settlement offer of US$33 million by Remington Arms Company, America’s oldest gun manufacturer. The offer was made in June to families of the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in the state of Connecticut. The gunman in this shooting used a Remington Bushmaster rifle killing 26 people, including 20 children.

Given the influence of the gun lobby in the US, and a 2015 law which shields gunmakers from most civil liability claims, Mexico may have a hard time achieving success in any US court.

Even if Mexico does not succeed in winning damages, the conversation around gun trafficking would have be expanded sufficiently for other countries to add their voices to the clamour for the gun industry to be more transparent about marketing, distribution and sales.

Jamaican authorities have ample data to participate in this discussion as one of the countries with a vested interest in seeing an end to the massive damage and pain wrought by gun violence. Forceful arguments around the economic benefits to be derived by gunmakers, their marketing strategies and the lack of mechanism for tracing weapons, could hopefully bring about change.