Sixteen U.S. states and several Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, on Tuesday expressed support for Mexico's appeal in a civil lawsuit against American gun manufacturers.
According to a Reuters report, the US states, which all have Democratic attorneys general, as well as the District of Columbia, filed an amicus curiae brief in a U.S. court on Tuesday, while the Caribbean countries of Antigua & Barbuda, Belize, The Bahamas, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago joined a separate amicus curiae brief.
The states filing the brief were California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Mexico announced last week that it had filed an appeal in a $10 billion lawsuit seeking to hold American gun makers responsible for facilitating the trafficking of deadly weapons across the border.
A U.S. judge dismissed the lawsuit in September, citing a law that protects arms manufactures from being held liable for crimes committed with their products.
The brief from the U.S. states contends that the judge's decision was "premised on a misreading" of that law.
The brief from the Caribbean governments, which was joined by a network of non-governmental organizations, follows a summit among regional leaders last month held in The Bahamas, where arms trafficking was a key topic.
U.S. officials in August noted a spike in weapons smuggling to Haiti and other Caribbean nations in recent months.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has in recent months given voice to Jamaica's strong concern about the devastating impact of the huge influx of US guns smuggled illegally into the country.
Mr Holness took his concerns to Washington D.C., where he held meetings with officials of the US Justice Department and the FBI in his effort to secure more support in stemming the flow of guns and prosecuting the smugglers.
