THE Government is ending up on the wrong side of a legal conflict against United States gun makers.
The US Supreme Court is set to rule against Trinidad and Tobago, several other Caribbean countries and Mexico in a legal case in which the Americans are accused of a “deliberate” plan of arming drug cartels.
The lawsuit claims that US gun manufacturers are facilitating powerful weapons crossing the border into Mexico, from where some are shipped to various destinations.
The gun makers, who insist that they are innocent, were sued for US $10 billion.
US-made guns are used by organised criminals in T&T and other Caribbean territories.
One estimate is that more than 500,000 weapons are moved south of the US each year.
While the Supreme Court is still considering the matter, questions by certain jurists suggest that the litigation will fail.
US gun manufacturers and the National Rifle Association – who support President Donald Trump – are arguing that the legal claim could undermine Americans’ gun rights.
In announcing T&T’s involvement in the lawsuit in March 2023, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley: “We have to join that fight.”
Rowley added: “Those who are making those guns knowing where the guns are going and what they could do have been insulated from lawsuits.”
He said T&T joined the legal challenge “to test the legality of those who make those weapons of war that are destroying our society.”
He said the US must do more to prevent the shipment of guns.
The lawsuit stated that some weapons were being made and decorated for gangsters.
US weapons are commonly used in Mexico, where more than 25,000 people died from gun violence last year, and the Caribbean, where thousands were murdered.
There is no gun-making industry in T&T, and modern weapons are illegally imported through porous borders and used in crimes, including drug transshipment.
The authorities have had no success in seizing weapons from local gangsters.
The Government did not grant a gun amnesty during the current State of Emergency.
The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other agencies have offered to assist in disrupting the illicit flow of firearms in T&T and other Caribbean countries.
But illegal guns continue to enter crime-ridden T&T.
During oral arguments at the Supreme Court, one judge voiced concerns about manufacturers being penalised for misuse of their products.
He stated that doing so could ultimately impact other industries, including pharmaceuticals.
Rowley, who chaired Caricom’s committee on national security, said two years ago he wanted the region to speak with one voice on the matter.
He said Caricom should urge the US to do more to prevent guns from entering T&T and other Caribbean countries.
He said the weapons have unleashed “mayhem” in regional societies.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum recently warned that the lawsuit could be expanded.
The US and Mexico are currently entangled in a conflict over Trump’s imposition of a tariff on goods imported from the southern neighbour.
The US Supreme Court is expected to hand down its judgment soon.
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