Guns Control and Mexico Border Violence

[Dimmauk]

Gun control debate hangs over U.S.-Mexico violence

By SUZANNE GAMBOA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER


WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress may be alarmed by the surge in Mexican drug violence and its potential to spill across the border, but they grow silent when the talk turns to gun control as a solution.

With related kidnappings and killings occurring in the U.S., the White House announced Tuesday plans to shift dozens of enforcement agents and step up gun and drug smuggling prosecutions in the fight against Mexican drug cartels.

Yet when Attorney General Eric Holder suggested last month reinstituting a U.S. ban on the sale of certain semiautomatic weapons, many lawmakers balked. The 1994 ban expired after 10 years.

"The Second Amendment Task Force opposes the discussed ban and will fight any attempts that infringe on our Second Amendment rights," said Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., a chairman of the group. Six Democrats and six Republicans co-signed his statement.

Mexico's drug violence has killed more than 9,000 people since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 as gangs battle each other for territory and fight off a government crackdown.

Underscoring the Obama administration's concern over the violence and the potential for a large-scale spillover into the United States, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Mexico on Wednesday to show support for its crackdown on drug cartels.

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the administration's plan would be inadequate if it does not enact new gun restrictions.

"The problem that is occurring in Mexico is one we are contributing to. It is one our weak gun laws are contributing to," Helmke said.

Mexico has long tried to get the United States to curtail the number of guns - many purchased legally - that wind up south of the border, where gun laws are much stricter. The State Department says firearms obtained in the U.S. account for an estimated 95 percent of Mexico's drug-related killings.

"If President Calderon's policies to roll back organized crime are to be successful, we need to defang the power of the drug syndicates to inflict damage upon our state, local and police forces," Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, said in January. "The best way we can do that is for a real ratcheting up of the United States' capabilities of shutting down the flow of weapons."

That may prove tough to do.

After opposition from the National Rifle Association, 22 Democrats joined Republicans in a Senate vote this month to negate the District of Columbia's tough gun registration requirements and overturn its ban on rapid-fire semiautomatic weapons. More than 80 House Democrats backed a similar measure last year.

The gun lobby has raised more than $20 million for political candidates since the 1990 election cycle, with about 85 percent going to Republicans. That ranks 68th among about 80 industry groups tracked by the OpenSecrets.org campaign finance watchdog.

When border violence comes up in hearings, lawmakers say they don't see a need for new gun laws.

"I don't think the solution to Mexico's problems is to limit Second Amendment gun rights in this country," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Senate GOP's election committee. "What we can do is help our Mexican friends enforce their own laws."

For his part, Obama has signaled a willingness to tighten restrictions on guns, calling the flow of drug money and guns "a two-way situation." Yet 65 Democrats said in a letter to Holder that they would oppose any attempt by the administration to revive a ban on military-style weapons.

Congress did provide $45 million this year for Project Gunrunner, a federal program aimed at curbing the flow of guns. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, a Texas Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said he will seek another $30 million over two years for the program and $30 million more to fund efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to crack down on gun trafficking.


So how do we fix the border? Build better fences? Ban Automatic weapons? Legalize drugs?

[Kael]

How about making it illegal to sell semi automatic weapons internationally or cross the border with semi automatic weapons.

[izembo]

you think they cross the border legally? rofl

[Kuya]

The State Department says firearms obtained in the U.S. account for an estimated 95 percent of Mexico's drug-related killings.

...

[Mizango]

Are we talking about Texico or the original Mexico?

[0ni0n]

We buy 95% of all their drugs while they are buying 95% of all guns from us, that's enterprising.

[Xajii]

Listened to a report on NPR about just this. I think it's an interesting subject, especially because of my interest in Mexican culture.

The problem is twofold. One, guns coming in. Two, drugs going out. It's not an easy solution- we've all been barking up border patrol shit for years now- and interestingly enough, from the other side of things...

The Mexican expert on the situation they had on NPR, when asked about solutions, said something to the effect of- in response to Clinton's words- "It's a start. The eventual outcome would be reevaluating their second amendment. But it's a start."

[Saphirea]

How about actually enforce our immigration policies and not allow people to cross the boarder illegally. Get rid of stupid laws proclaiming sanctuary and actually kick illegals out when found. Not giving up free health care to people who have children in the US after coming here illegally. How about things like that?

You know, like they do in Mexico when people are found immigrating to their country from countries south...

Also, obviously Mexico has it right when it comes to stricter gun control. I mean hey, they're some of the strictest out there, yet they're doing amazing with actually controlling anything right??? Obviously we should mimic them as what to look for when controlling our own firearm policies.

[Demosthenes11]

...

lmao, that's pretty bad

[Zilong]

Get the chinese to build a great wall across the border.

[Correction]

How about actually enforce our immigration policies and not allow people to cross the boarder illegally. derp derp derp talking points rant about Immigration.

If you're going to live in my country, at least learn the fucking language.

[Mizango]

I wonder how Lou Dobbs feels about this.

[pohibaba]

I think we should take a three step approach to this problem: Make it easier for people to become American citizens, make crossing the boarder illegally much more difficult, and legalize drugs.

We should set up a system where people could come to America on a work visa, be required to check in with the system twice a year or so, and have to show that they kept a legal job for five years, or that they acquired a Bachelor's Degree or higher, and then we'd give them outright American citizenship. This would make it so that anyone who wants to come here and be a productive citizen has the chance, and where they could help out their families back home without worrying about being deported at any random time. I think that most people immigrating would choose this system rather than trying to live beneath the law.

We should also build a fence that goes the length of the Mexican border. The fence should actually be two fences that run parallel to each other with a two lane roan in between that would be used exclusively by the boarder patrol. The two fences should be about 15 feet tall with razor wire at the top. The purpose of this fence shouldn't be to keep people out who simply want to better their lives, but should be to keep people out who want to commit crimes in America.

Legalizing drugs would not only limit crimes that spill over from Mexico, but would limit gang violence that happens in every American city right now. Not only is this the right thing to do for economic reasons, crime prevention reasons, and prison over-population reasons, it should be done because it's the only moral decision that our lawmakers can make regarding drugs.

[Demni]

Also, obviously Mexico has it right when it comes to stricter gun control. I mean hey, they're some of the strictest out there, yet they're doing amazing with actually controlling anything right??? Obviously we should mimic them as what to look for when controlling our own firearm policies.

I do enjoy how guns are illegal to own in Mexico.

But yeah the Juarez police and/or military keep finding weapons stashes, explosives and 300k+ worth of weed, near the farming towns close to me.

[Kuya]

How about actually enforce our immigration policies and not allow people to cross the boarder illegally. Get rid of stupid laws proclaiming sanctuary and actually kick illegals out when found. Not giving up free health care to people who have children in the US after coming here illegally. How about things like that?

You know, like they do in Mexico when people are found immigrating to their country from countries south...

Also, obviously Mexico has it right when it comes to stricter gun control. I mean hey, they're some of the strictest out there, yet they're doing amazing with actually controlling anything right??? Obviously we should mimic them as what to look for when controlling our own firearm policies.

Did you just link gangs purchasing US weapons to run of the mill Mexican people moving into the US to find jobs?

Did you just say that their restrictions on gun purchasing in Mexico are failing because they're purchasing guns from the US?

edit: Does anyone here know the context of this whole crime problem in Mexico? I think it seems way too extreme to go unexplained.

[Correction]

edit: Does anyone here know the context of this whole crime problem in Mexico? I think it seems way too extreme to go unexplained.

The political climate in Mexico was stagnant for over 50 years under the uncontested rule of one political party. Predictably, this lead to widespread corruption so horrible that it will probably take another 50 years or an outright armed insurrection to undo it. It's this corruption that has led to pitifully outmanned, outgunned and outfinanced law enforcement across every leg of the route drugs take as they travel from south america to the U.S. Mexico border.

In other words, the cops are basically making more money from the drug captains than their own government.

[Rhinox]

I think we should take a three step approach to this problem: Make it easier for people to become American citizens, make crossing the boarder illegally much more difficult, and legalize drugs.

We should set up a system where people could come to America on a work visa, be required to check in with the system twice a year or so, and have to show that they kept a legal job for five years, or that they acquired a Bachelor's Degree or higher, and then we'd give them outright American citizenship. This would make it so that anyone who wants to come here and be a productive citizen has the chance, and where they could help out their families back home without worrying about being deported at any random time. I think that most people immigrating would choose this system rather than trying to live beneath the law.

We should also build a fence that goes the length of the Mexican border. The fence should actually be two fences that run parallel to each other with a two lane roan in between that would be used exclusively by the boarder patrol. The two fences should be about 15 feet tall with razor wire at the top. The purpose of this fence shouldn't be to keep people out who simply want to better their lives, but should be to keep people out who want to commit crimes in America.

Legalizing drugs would not only limit crimes that spill over from Mexico, but would limit gang violence that happens in every American city right now. Not only is this the right thing to do for economic reasons, crime prevention reasons, and prison over-population reasons, it should be done because it's the only moral decision that our lawmakers can make regarding drugs.

For once. Me and Pohi actually agree on something. I'd fully support this.

[Rhinox]

How about actually enforce our immigration policies and not allow people to cross the boarder illegally. Get rid of stupid laws proclaiming sanctuary and actually kick illegals out when found. Not giving up free health care to people who have children in the US after coming here illegally. How about things like that?

You know, like they do in Mexico when people are found immigrating to their country from countries south...

Also, obviously Mexico has it right when it comes to stricter gun control. I mean hey, they're some of the strictest out there, yet they're doing amazing with actually controlling anything right??? Obviously we should mimic them as what to look for when controlling our own firearm policies.

Nice you managed to fit in some bigotry in your post in a thread about Violence on the border.

[Kuya]

If it doesn't bother you, do you have any information on why a single political party managed to obtain a monopoly for so long? I am doubting it was because it was so great that nobody felt the need to vote them out, but i'm sort of ahead of myself thinking that they are very corrupt. I presume that by corrupt you mean that the government (is corrupt and because of this) completely ignored the nation to the point of extreme economic stagnation? I am assuming here that his drug problem is in fact due to economic stagnation.

[Rhinox]

If it doesn't bother you, do you have any information on why a single political party managed to obtain a monopoly for so long? I am doubting it was because it was so great that nobody felt the need to vote them out, but i'm sort of ahead of myself thinking that they are very corrupt. I presume that by corrupt you mean that the government (is corrupt and because of this) completely ignored the nation to the point of extreme economic stagnation? I am assuming here that his drug problem is in fact due to economic stagnation.

Institutional Revolutionary Party - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

thats a start