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Mexican Drug War Being Fought With American Guns

75% of tested cartel guns come from border states

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 8, 2010 5:58 AM CDT

(Newser) – A significant number of people killed in Mexican drug cartel violence since 2006 may have been killed with guns bought in US border states, according to a report based on data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco. The report—prepared by the advocacy group Mayors Against Illegal Guns—found that of the guns recovered from crime scenes and submitted for testing, 90% came from the US, with 75% coming from Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California.

Texas alone supplied 40% of those guns, ABC News notes. The report found that on a per capita basis, far fewer of the tested guns came from California, which has strict laws aimed at deterring illegal gun trafficking, than from the other three border states, which lack such measures. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has urged the US to help stop the flow of guns, saying that while he understands the purpose of the Second Amendment, "many of these guns are not going to honest American hands."

Guns and ammunition sit in front of handcuffed members of a drug cartel named El Milenio during a presentation to the press in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Guns and ammunition sit in front of handcuffed members of a drug cartel named El Milenio during a presentation to the press in Guadalajara, Mexico.   (AP Photo/Carlos Jasso)
A gun lies on the floor at the crime scene where a woman was killed and a police investigator injured during a shooting in Tijuana, Mexico.
A gun lies on the floor at the crime scene where a woman was killed and a police investigator injured during a shooting in Tijuana, Mexico.   (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)
An investigator works at the crime scene of an attack to State Police officers in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
An investigator works at the crime scene of an attack to State Police officers in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.   (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)
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This is information, previously hidden by Congress, that the public needs to see, to show how guns bought in the US are fueling the drug wars in Mexico. - NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 40 comments
FirearmsTruth
Sep 9, 2010 9:47 AM CDT
Newser actually corrected their story, after we posted our comments on FirearmsTruth.com. And yes, there is a big difference when he says "traced from Mexican crime scenes" and "sent for tracing." As the article at Newser was originally written it suggests ALL guns were sent for tracing. This is not the fact. Only a small percentage was sent for tracing, and of those sent, 90 percent were from America. There is a big difference between saying 90 percent of guns come from the United States and saying 90 percent of the 17 percent of guns sent for tracing come from the United States.
FirearmsTruth
Sep 8, 2010 12:57 PM CDT
Rob Quinn got this whole story wrong. His "reporting" is beyond terrible. First, he quotes the 90 percent number and implies that these guns can be traced back to the United States. No, that's not close to accurate. In fact, of the guns sent for tracing (which is around 17 percent), 90 percent of those come from the United States. And he is wrong about California, which is the second highest state for traced guns. More guns that are traced to the United States come from California than from either Arizona or New Mexico combined. Read my rebuttal: http://www.firearmstruth.com/2010/newswer-com-reports-but-fails-to-do-any-reporting
gunnut1970
Sep 8, 2010 12:56 PM CDT
Who cares? People cross to Mexico to traffic in Mexicans, buy Cuban Cigars, and drugs that are prescription only in the USA and cross back. Our two countries have different laws, sometimes deterimental to the other. But it doesn't really matter. What matters is that the border isn't enforced. If it was, then American contraband wouldn't get into Mexico and Mexican contraband wouldn't get into the USA. That's what needs to be fixed. We aren't going to change our domestic laws to suit them and they won't change their domestic laws to suit us - and that is fine with me. You fix the border, then there will be no problem with either country's domestic laws with relation to the other.

PDF file of the report
Mayors Against Illegal Guns

 
Mexico • gun control • Second Amendment • firearms • Mexican drug cartel • Mexico drug war

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