U.S. Guns Arming Mexican Drug Gangs; Second Amendment to Blame? HELL NO!
Officials: More Than 90 Percent of Weapons Used by Mexico’s Drug Gangs Come From the U.S.
U.S. gun stores and gun shows are the source of more than 90 percent of the weapons being used by Mexico’s ruthless drug cartels, according to U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials.
“It’s a war going on in Mexico, and these types of firearms are the weapons of war for them,” said Bill Newell, the special agent in charge of the Phoenix field division of the ATF, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which has primary law enforcement jurisdiction for investigating gun trafficking to Mexico.
“It’s virtually impossible to buy a firearm in Mexico as a private citizen, so this country is where they come,” said Newell.
But U.S. efforts to stop the smuggling of tens of thousands of guns to Mexico, including high-powered assault weapons, have been hampered by lenient American gun laws and the Bush administration’s failure to give priority to anti-gun smuggling efforts, officials tell ABC News for a report Tuesday on ABC News’ “World News With Charles Gibson.”
President Bush said today at a press conference that Mexican President Felipe Calderon again raised the issue of guns at their meeting in New Orleans.
Mexico’s strict gun laws are being subverted by the easy availability of weapons in the U.S., the Mexican attorney general, Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza, told ABC News. “The Second Amendment,” said the attorney general, “is certainly not designed to arm and give fire power to organized crime abroad.”
More than 3,400 people have been killed by the drug cartels in the last 15 months, 2,000 of them law enforcement officials, according to the Mexican attorney general.
U.S. and Mexican officials say they have traced most of the thousands of high-powered weapons seized from the drug cartels to gun dealers in Texas, California and Arizona.
More Blame America First Below
(ABC News)
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April 22nd, 2008 at 4:23 pmArticle - “It’s virtually impossible to buy a firearm in Mexico as a private citizen, so this country is where they come,” said Newell.
Oh, I suppose that’s why Mexico’s such a bastion of freedom, liberty and opportunity for all Mexicans. 
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:33 pm______________________________________________________
mike3481
“Mexico’s strict gun laws are being subverted by the easy availability of weapons in the U.S., the Mexican attorney general, Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza, told ABC News.”
_________________________________________________________________
Oh………….so now it’s our fault for the lax gun laws we have in this country.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:38 pmSo what kind of guns? whats the weapon of choice?
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:44 pmYet another problem which would more easily be fixed by stout wall then by infringing on American liberties.
I really disliked how this article basically makes it seem like we as free men should feel bad or partly responsible for the fact that the Mexicans commit crimes with great disregard for the law of the land.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:47 pmHey Chico, close the border. S’not my yob!
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 pmStrict gun laws. In Mexico. I wonder how many tries it took them to say that before they could say it with a straight face. And the drug cartels get their weapons from the U.S. Yeah, okay. I’m sure they would neeeeeevveeeeeeeer bypass Mexico’s “strict gun laws” and get them from their buddies in the military or the government. That would be illegal. Especially in Mexico where they have “strict gun laws”. Pinche brutos.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 pmLobogris Bush is a GREAT leader. Yes I’m on pot.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:32 pm“It’s virtually impossible to buy a firearm in Mexico as a
private citizen, so this country is where they come,” said
Newell.
Maybe legally it is near-impossible, but I’ll bet the drug cartels and petty criminals don’t have too much trouble getting guns, no matter what their origin. How can anyone look at that situation and say with a straight face that disarming the law-abiding populace will decrease crime? Newell, as a good bureaucrat, has a vested interest in increasing his own organization’s regulatory power, budget, and headcount. That’s how bureaucracies function. Only someone with a similar agenda would look to a BATFE agent for a quote - kinda like asking an insurance agent if you should buy more insurance. Duh.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:45 pmClose the border
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:17 amI dont think we should close the border completely, but I do think we need some more control here. Its getting ridiculous.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:55 am