People take part in the "March for Our Lives" rally in Washington D.C., the United States, on March 24, 2018. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. on Saturday for the "March for Our Lives" gun control rally, demanding the end of gun violence and mass school shootings. Photo: Xinhua/Yang Chenglin

The US shares responsibility for gun violence in Mexico, which is why the Mexican government filed a lawsuit against 11 US arms manufacturers and dealers, Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Wednesday.

"The US, particularly its arms manufacturing companies, is jointly responsible for the violence and the difficulties we are experiencing in our country. That is why [we filed]this strategic litigation," Ebrard said in a video message to a seminar held by the Law School of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, titled "Strategic Litigation vs Arms Producers and Distributors."

"We see this strategic litigation as a substantive defense in terms of the narrative and explanation of this criminal and violent phenomenon," Ebrard said.

According to a National Survey of Victimization and Perception of Public Security in Mexico, more than 3.9 million crimes were committed with US-made weapons in 2019.

In addition, seven out of every 10 weapons trafficked in the country come from the US, due to a series of "negligent and intentional" practices by US companies that manufacture and distribute weapons, Mexico maintains.

On August 4, the Mexican government filed a lawsuit at a federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, against 11 US arms manufacturing and distribution companies that it accuses of contributing to arms trafficking through their commercial practices. As the plaintiff, Mexico is seeking financial compensation for damages resulting from arms trafficking.