Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum has threatened to take further legal action against United States firearms manufacturers if the Trump administration fully executes its move to designate drug cartels as terrorist organizations.

On Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14157, which called for the designation of major cartels and other criminal entities as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). This executive order specifically named two organizations the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) of the United States and El Salvador and Tren de Aragua of Venezuela as terrorist organizations. 

On Feb. 19, 2025, the Trump administration followed up by formally designating eight other Latin American crime organizations as FTOs. The most prominent of these were the Mexican Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels. 

United States-Mexico relations have recently taken a nosedive, largely due to concerns that the Mexican government is not doing enough to contain migrants from illegally entering the United States or stemming the flow of drugs into the country. The Trump administration has taken initiative by trying to confront the criminal organizations destabilizing the United States. 

As a response to these moves, Sheinbaum warned that American gunmakers could face legal consequences should the United States fully commit to designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups. “If they declare these criminal groups as terrorists, then we’ll have to expand our US lawsuit,” Sheinbaum stated during a daily press conference. 

For context, Mexico filed a $10 billion lawsuit against seven prominent U.S. firearms manufacturers and one wholesaler in 2021. The defendants include Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Colt, and Glock. At the time, the Mexican government asserted these companies purposely marketed and sold guns that ended up in the hands of drug cartels, fueling violence across Mexico. The case is set to be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court on March 4, 2025. 

On Oct. 2, 2024, Mexico filed another lawsuit in an Arizona court against five gun retailers. The Mexican government accused the retailers of engaging in negligence, creating a public nuisance, and unjustly enriching themselves. The case is still in the evidence-gathering phase. Mexico asserted that 70 percent to 90 percent of firearms recovered at crime scenes in the country come from the United States. 

It would behoove Scheinbaum to recognize that her country is not exactly a paragon of public safety before blaming the United States for gun violence, much less threatening to take legal action against it for the same reasons. It’s an open secret that drug cartels dominate the political landscape in Mexico. Mexico’s lax criminal justice policies and culture of embracing all manner of political corruption allows criminal enterprises like drug cartels to wield frightening levels of coercive and indirect political power.

The country’s homicide numbers speak for themselves. Mexico’s national homicide rate was 23.3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2023. Mexico’s homicide figures are significantly higher than the global average of 5.8 per 100,000 in 2021. Overall, Mexico is a mess as far as public order is concerned and that’s on its political class for not keeping the country safe. 

It does not help that Mexico has stringent gun control laws. Civilians can only legally buy firearms from one store in the entire country, which is located on a military base in Mexico City. Prospective gun owners have to go through extensive background checks, and have their firearms registered with the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA). In a similar vein, openly carrying a firearm or carrying a concealed weapon in public is practically prohibited for private citizens in Mexico. 

The combination of Mexico lacking the state capacity to confront cartels and its stringent gun control laws make cartel violence a part of daily life in Mexico. Before teaming up with Gun Control Inc in the United States to destroy gun rights, Mexico would be wise to look in the mirror. 

Its crime problems are home-grown and pursuing punitive action in the U.S. is an exercise in futility.