'Weapon of war': The U.S. rifle feared by Mexican police -- and loved by drug cartels

[Judi Lynn]

Weapons such as the M82 are part of a “torrent” of illegal arms flowing south that Mexico says shouldn't be in the hands of civilians.



Soldiers stand guard next to weapons seized from alleged drug traffickers at a military zone in Mexico City on September 2, 2016.Henry Romero / Reuters

Aug. 6, 2021, 2:14 PM CDT / Updated Aug. 6, 2021, 2:16 PM CDT
By Reuters

MEXICO CITY — The flow of high-caliber arms smuggled across the porous U.S. border has alarmed Mexican officials and few weapons are as powerful as the U.S.-made M82 semi-automatic rifle increasingly favored by the powerful drug cartels.

The M82 can easily penetrate bulletproof vests, concrete walls and even tanks, says its manufacturer Barrett Firearms. It is also one of the weapons of choice for drug cartels, according to the Mexican government, which this week filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts against the company and 10 other gun manufacturers.

Weapons such as the M82 are part of a “torrent” of illegal arms flowing south, Mexico alleges, partly due to the manufacturers’ negligent business practices that had encouraged illegal arms trafficking.

None of the manufacturers, including Barrett, responded to Reuters’ requests for comment.

More:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/weapon-war-us-rifle-feared-mexican-police-loved-drug-cartels-rcna1624?icid=recommended

Also posted in Editorials and other articles:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016298753

[Chainfire]

1. That is a rifle that will kill a lightly armored car or truck, and will blow through your Honda like

a hot knife through butter. Only cartels can afford to feed the rifles though, it probably cost near ten bucks a round to shoot making practice damn expensive. Somebody needs to ask Barrett Arms how they are getting to Mexico in bulk...

[Judi Lynn]

3. Robert Reich: American guns are flooding into Mexico and wreaking havoc

American guns are flooding into Mexico and wreaking havoc

Robert Reich

Mexico has tried almost everything to stop US-made guns from fueling cartel violence. So now it’s doing what any litigious American would do: suing

Fri 6 Aug 2021 06.19 EDT

Even as Republican members of Congress accuse Joe Biden of failing to secure the nation’s southern border, Mexico is facing a growing problem of securing its northern border. Guns from the United States are pouring into Mexico, arming violent drug gangs.

Mexico has tried just about everything to stop the flow of firearms from the north – passing strict gun control laws, imposing stiff penalties on traffickers and pleading with US authorities to stop the trafficking – but nothing has worked. So now it’s doing what any litigious American would do: it’s suing.

On Wednesday, Mexico announced that it is seeking at least $10bn in compensation from 11 major US gun manufacturers for the havoc the guns have wrought south of the border. The lawsuit alleges America’s gunmakers know their products are being trafficked to Mexico and are expressly marketing their weapons to Mexican criminal gangs – designing guns to be “easily modified to fire automatically” and be “readily transferable on the criminal market in Mexico”.

The deluge of firearms from the United States to Mexico – on average, more than 500 every day – is contributing to mayhem there. Killings have become a routine part of the Mexican drug trade. In Mexico’s recent midterm election campaign, 30 candidates were gunned down by criminal gangs. In 2019 alone, at least 17,000 homicides in Mexico were linked to trafficked weapons.

Yet Mexico’s lawsuit is likely to face tough going in the United States, where the easy accessibility of guns is also wreaking havoc but where gun ownership is considered a constitutional right and gun purchases are skyrocketing.

In addition, US gunmakers have erected a fortress of legal protections. In 2005, the gun lobby got congressional Republicans to enact the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Firearms Act, banning most lawsuits brought against gun manufacturers for marketing and distributing their products.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/06/american-guns-mexico-illegal-weapons