A US judge has thrown out most of a $10 billion lawsuit brought by Mexico against US gun manufacturers it says are fuelling rampant weapons trafficking that brings 500,000 guns south across the border every year.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal courthouse in Massachusetts - where several of the companies are based - argued that the "flood" of illegal guns in Mexico is the foreseeable result of the defendants' deliberate actions and business practices.
Of the eight companies Mexico sued in 2021, six were dismissed by a judge who said Mexico did not adequately prove that any firearms sold in Massachusetts caused the country harm.
The companies have long argued that Mexico cannot prove that violence is the fault of gun manufacturers.
Mexico's foreign ministry told Reuters it would continue its legal action and that it is considering filing an appeal.
Mexico has for years argued that the country's extremely restrictive laws on gun sales make legal purchases difficult, driving criminal organisations to look to the US to purchase thousands of weapons.
Mexican authorities believe that a large portion of southern-bound weapons are bought legally by 'straw buyers', who then unlawfully pass them to criminals.
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