Weak U.S. Gun Laws Fueling Violence in Mexico
Mexico’s escalating gun war with well-armed drug cartels has killed
thousands of police, government officials, and ordinary citizens, and
threatens the stability of the Mexican government. U.S. Attorney
General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and
President Obama have recognized that helping stem the violence in
Mexico is of urgent national — and international — importance. American
gun sellers supply the cartels with virtually all of their guns —
between 95 and 100 percent. Recently, Mexico’s drug war has begun to
wreak havoc in the U.S.
While the crisis has been much discussed
in the media and in Washington, there has been little mention of the
elephant in the room: the Mexican drug cartels are arming themselves here because the U.S. makes it too easy for criminals and traffickers to get guns. Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora correctly called American gun laws “absurd.”
Two crucial points need to be in the spotlight in responses to the crisis:
1) To stem the violence in Mexico, we need to prevent criminals and traffickers from buying guns in the U.S.
by plugging loopholes in our gun laws and strengthening law
enforcement’s ability to crack down on corrupt gun dealers. This crisis
is not happening because our border is loose; it is happening because
our gun laws allow unlicensed sellers to sell guns without Brady
background checks, military-style assault weapons to be freely sold,
and corrupt dealers to thrive. Making our borders less porous will take
years, and will not stop the imminent Mexican crisis.
2) The same legal loopholes and corrupt gun sellers who arm Mexican criminals also arm American criminals.
While we should heed the call of Mexican officials to help stop the
violence there, we also should heed the call of the majority of
Americans who want to stop the violence in their communities.
Loopholes in Our Gun Laws Enable Mexican Drug Cartels To Obtain Deadly Weapons
Mexican
criminals can’t get guns in Mexico because the gun laws in Mexico, like
those in most industrialized nations, do not allow a vast unregulated
gun market, in which military-style weapons and all manner of guns are
easily available to be purchased in unlimited quantity without a
background check. Stymied by Mexico’s tough gun laws, the drug lords
and the traffickers who supply them come to the U.S. to take advantage
of our gun laws’ gaping loopholes:
* No Background Check Sales:
Federal law allows guns to be sold by unlicensed sellers without Brady
background checks. ATF has found that “no background check” sales are a
major source for supplying dangerous people with guns. Investigations
of gun shows have found that unlicensed sellers have trafficked
thousands of guns without background checks, making them the second
most prominent source of illegal gun trafficking. Mexican drug cartels
are exploiting this loophole, buying guns in “no background check”
sales at gun shows or other private venues.
* Military-style
Assault Weapons: Federal law in the U.S. allows civilians to purchase
military style assault weapons, as well as military surplus .50 caliber
sniper rifles that can shoot through armored vehicles and bring down
airplanes. Mexican law enforcement is increasingly being out-gunned by
drug gangs bearing military-style weapons. Mexico Attorney General
Medina Mora has said that before the U.S. assault weapons ban was
allowed to expire, only 21 percent of the weapons Mexico seized from
traffickers were assault rifles, while today, it is more than half. For
example, a Bushmaster carbine, a civilian version of the M-16 assault
rifle, bought in Houston was used by drug gangsters disguised as
soldiers to massacre four police officers and three secretaries in the
“2007 Acapulco Massacre.”
* Bulk Sales: Federal law does not
limit the number of guns a purchaser can buy at a time – the only limit
is the buyer’s ability to pay for them. This enables gun traffickers to
buy guns in bulk, and/or buy guns repeatedly from the same store. For
example, between January and November 2003, Adan Rodriguez purchased
more than 150 guns for Mexican drug gangs, returning repeatedly to Ammo
Depot in Mesquite, Texas. One of the guns he sold was connected to the
shooting of a police officer in Reynosa.
* Restrictions on law
enforcement: Only one percent of federally licensed firearms dealers
are responsible for nearly 60 percent of guns traced to crime in the
U.S.,8 and many of the guns trafficked to Mexico are also sold by gun
dealers who are at worst corrupt, at best, willfully indifferent when
they sell guns to straw purchasers.9 Yet federal law makes it too hard
for law enforcement to crack down on corrupt gun dealers. For example,
ATF is limited to one spot inspection per year, and the standard of
proof for license revocations is difficult to meet. Riders attached
annually to Justice Department appropriations legislation since 2004,
known as the Tiahrt Amendment, prohibit ATF from requiring gun dealer
inventory audits, restrict disclosure of crime gun data, and require
the destruction of Brady Background Records after 24 hours. These
restrictions make it harder for law enforcement to investigate corrupt
dealers.
The Loopholes That Arm Mexican Cartels Are Also Killing Americans
Just
as criminals in Mexico find it necessary to go to the U.S. to get guns,
American criminals get a disproportionate share of their guns from
states with weak gun laws. For example, states that require permits for
handgun sales export a third of the crime guns as states with no such
requirement. States like Texas, that allow gun sales without background
checks export crime guns on average at about twice the rate of states
that have closed the gun show loophole. Texas leads the nation as the
primary source of guns for drug cartels and Texas dealers are the third
highest supplier of interstate
crime guns in the U.S. The states
with the highest rate of supplying crime guns to other states all have
weak gun laws. States with weak gun laws also supply a larger
percentage of in-state criminals with guns – because criminals do not
need to travel to get guns.
Current Proposals Are Insufficient to Stem The Violence in Mexico – or America
In
response to the Mexican crisis, legislation has been introduced to
expand resources for ATF to crack down on firearms trafficking across
the border,16 and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has called for
reinstatement of an assault weapons ban. While these proposals are
positive steps, they alone will not be sufficient to stem the gun
crisis in Mexico, or in the United States.
In formulating a
policy to stem the flow of guns to Mexico, policymakers must focus on
the fundamental problem – that our laws in the U.S. make it far too
easy for criminals to obtain guns. We need to require Brady background
checks for all gun sales. We should not allow the purchases of
unlimited numbers of guns at one time to anyone with a high credit card
limit. We should strengthen ATF’s legal authority to crack down on
corrupt gun dealers.
While we respond to the gun violence crisis
in Mexico, we should also respond to the gun violence crisis here at
home. The United States suffers more than 30,000 deaths and more than
70,000 injuries due to gun violence every year.18 Estimates of direct
medical expenses for firearm injuries range from $2.3 billion19 to $4
billion per year in the U.S., nearly 50% of which is covered by
taxpayers. By strengthening our federal gun laws, we can start
preventing criminals in Mexico and the U.S. from acquiring guns.
To read a complete list of footnotes and citations for this article, click here .
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Its laborious to seek out educated folks on this subject, but you sound like you already know what youre speaking about! Thanks Not Found
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There are some attention-grabbing deadlines on this article however I dont know if I see all of them heart to heart. There's some validity however I will take maintain opinion till I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we wish more! Added to FeedBurner as well Eyepothesis literal What is purasilk Conceit
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2011/02/actions-louder-than-words-eric-holder.html
ATF employees are risking their lives to expose corruption and lies in the agency.
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/phoenix-atf-reportedly-retaliating-against-project-gunwalker-whistleblower
BATFE smuggling guns into Mexico to pad statistics and justify harsher(er) regulations.
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2011/01/sources-timeline-summary-of-atf-project.html
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2011/01/sources-timeline-summary-of-atf-project.html
I'm glad we have criminals. If we had no crime unemployment #'s would be horrendous. Think about all the money wasted on education , judges, attorneys, police, security, et cetera, et cetera...
I thought guns were illegal in Mexico; didn't they solve this problem when they outlawed most privately owned guns?
The Mexican cartels aren't getting masses of gun from the U.S. Why would they want to pay American prices (High) for a semi-auto knockoff of an AK-47 when they can smuggle in REAL full-auto select-fire AK-47s from China for a fraction of the price? The cartels aren't stupid. All of that heavy firepower is coming from other countries.
August 24, 2009 / Richmond Times Dispatch
Long time Anti-Gun Advocate State Senator R.C. Soles, 74, shot one of two intruders at his home just outside Tabor City, N.C. about 5 p.m. Sunday, the prosecutor for the politician’s home county said. The State Bureau of Investigation and Columbus County Sheriff’s Department are investigating the shooting , Gore said. Soles, who was not arrested , declined to discuss the incident Sunday evening. The Senator, who has made a career of being against gun ownership for the general public, didn’t hesitate to defend himself with his own gun when he believed he was in immediate danger and he was the victim. It has prompted some to ask if the Senator believes his life and personal safety is more valuable than yours or mine. But this is to be expected from those who believe they can run our lives, raise our kids , and protect our families better than we can.
What makes you think that drug cartels who buy and smuggle illegal drugs by the boat and truck load wouldn't do the same for guns ?
Why are Americans so damn unwilling to ever consider the possibily that our actions could have negative consequences? Yes Mexican violence has many causes including poverty ,corruption,US lust for dope, US drug policy(the pathetic and misguided "War on Drugs")AND YES DEFINITELY-EASILY AVAILABLE US GUNS. I've tried to be an open minded moderate on the gun issue but the more I hear NRA numbheads unconditionally defend and without any real thought process regurgitate the same old progun garbage the more anti-gun I become.
But to blame their violence on the US, especially gun violence , is truly a case of political Retinitis Pigmentosa (tunnel vision.) You see one detail but miss the whole image.
The guns that are in Mexico aren't US guns. Most have been in families for decades. And the bad guys aren't satisfied with just one bullet for one trigger pull. They typically want select fire weapons that can send more than one round downrange when the trigger is pressed.
And while you can own them in the US, it isn't cheap. You won't find them on the shelves a WalMart or a pawn shop or even most gun stores.
"The same old progun" arguments are valid arguments. That's why they are still around and so effective at refuting "new anti-gun" arguments.
How is it that you are trying to be moderate, and it offends you that the "NRA numbheads" defend their guns unconditionally, but you apparently have no problem withe Brady numbheads making up statistics, lying outright, and unconditionally condemning guns? It doesn't sound like you're trying very hard to be moderate, but rather trying very hard to find good reasons to be anti-gun.
Can I ask, when was the last firearm you purchased? It's obvious it's been quite a long time ago if ever. There's no "easily available US guns " when purchased legally. The process is nonsensical, time consuming, costly & frankly stupid.
Talk about arrogant,how arrogant & asinine to mindlessly mumble the talking points of political correctness. How progressively liberal you are to blame my freedom for mexico 's inability or disinterest to maintain the rule of law .
You seem to have more liberal/progressive/socialist philosophy than a middle of the road, sitting on the fence, no core convictions moderate as you claim. Your clearly intolerant of any opposing view & I can say you are not pro choice either, are you?!
Then you close w/the statement "the MORE anti-gun I become." Again, more liberal control freak than easy going moderate.
Don't get up here & espouse the government 's mantra that it's the people's freedom that's causing the latest crisis & the answer is to take that freedom away from the people. Remember this administration's motto, "Never let a crisis go to waste". We are only 1 good crisis away from a shadow government taking over, it's already in place!
So, let me get this straight-- Mexico has gun violence not because it is run by violent cartels who go unchecked by corrupt law enforcement, but because the U.S. doesn't have enough in the way of gun laws ? So, in a nutshell, because Mexican authorities are corrupt beyond description and drug lords run that country, Americans should give up their rights, so that..., well, so that what? So the drug lords would be forced to purchase their weapons from the Chinese or the Russians? Sorry, guys-- back to the drawing board, because this one doesn't pass the laugh test.
The Brady Campaign has some dumb arguments, but this one takes the cake.
These facts are incorrect. the majority of the captured firearms were not made or purchased in the U.S. These gang members had full auto rifles made in China, or Russia and even had Russian made RPGs, among other things. One cartel even had it's own submarine.
You better check your facts better before you write this kind of garbage.
All those wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia. Those U.S. government guns sent to the rightists and those Russain AKs shipped to the leftists didn't melt in the tropical sun.
Mexico has become a nesting ground for many nations that are either for or against America. Past media outlets have reported since 2001 that terrorist hell bent on destroying us have entered our country by way of Mexico as well as Canada. In the 1980"s The U.S government waged war against Drugs concentrating on South American region, Central America and Mexico. As of present our government has lost the war on drugs ! The cartels in mexico have always been heavily armed and will remain that way until the violent elements are removed. I don't see how abolishing the 2nd ammendment or imposing bans on guns and ammo for law abiding citizens is going to curve violence in this counrty as well as mexico. The criminals don't abide by background checks or buy their ammo from their local sporting goods store. Mexico has gun violence problems because their countries fiscal infrastructure is in ruins. The law enforcement sector is riddled with corruption and funded secretly by the very drug cartels they vow to eliminate. Let Mexico take responsibility for their own gun violence issues and stop passing the buck like they do their citizens on this country.
Another bunch of half truths and fabricated hysteria from the masters of the genre.
The 83% number you are throwing around is the percentage of weapons that the ATF confirmed were from the US. The problem with your figure is that the the Mexican government only requested traces on guns that they thought came from the US; and they were 83% correct. What you conveniently left out is that the Mexican government did not request traces on all the guns they confiscated in the drug war. Do the math correctly and it works out to around 14%. Which is still too large a number, but not as eye-popping, and therefore not be as useful to your agenda. So, are you deliberating trying to mislead the public, or are you just poor at math?
What it seems you would like us to believe is that the cartel's are buying machine guns and hand grenades across the border at the local wal-mart and that the 94 AWB banned guns which are used by the military & police (and criminals); which is simply not the case.
I bet it was a lot easier for you all, before the Internet, when people got all their news from the print and broadcast media . Now that everyone can check the facts for themselves, they can see you for the pack of liars hypocrites that you are. The poll associated with this debate shows the no's at 81%. Here is a free clue, those numbers are not an NRA conspiracy.
Maybe if you started being truthful and offering useful solutions you wouldn't find yourselves as marginalized. .
Ever notice how newspaper all over the country set up "Polls" for stuff like this, they always go WAY lopsided, and then they take it down...
While they always say the poll is 'not scientific,' if even one time it went in their favor, do you doubt they would put it on the front page anyway?
To take the guns away from every one is just wrong because you will NEVER TAKE THEM AWAY FROM THE CROOKS THEY WILL JUST GET THEM SOME WHERE ELSE. And when this world falls apart the only ones that will have them then would be the crooks and the cops 30 years ago you could trust the cops were on the side of good in todays world of no morals the power of the cops and are Goverment has gone to there heads and a lot of them are as big a crook as any one out there.
The position of the Brady campaign is just hysteria. A polyanna attitude that if you take away guns from everyone, including law abiding citizens, then the world will be all nice and people will get along. The truth, Virginia, is that there are real bad people out there. There are also good people. If you take weapons away from the good people, then the bad people will be the only ones to have the weapons, and the bad people will use the weapons against the good people. Get it?
US Gun laws already say that bad people are not supposed to have guns. How many times do you think laws have to be passed to say that? Do you think that will change anything?
Mexican violence is caused by many things. Mexican corruption is probably one of the biggest factors. US drug users certainly contribute to the problem in a big way, but I don't see the Brady bunch asking for serious drug laws against the users. Maybe it is because the Brady bunch are using the drugs ? That would explain some of their fuzzy logic.
Whence the 83% of guns that are not from the US come from?
Maybe you should help the Mexicans cut down on the corruption that allows smuggling of automatic weapons and explosives from Korea, China, Russia, and Venezuela before you try infringing on my rights?