70% of weapons used by Mex drug gangs originate in U.S.
June 14, 2011 10:05 a.m. EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/14/mexico.guns/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
A new report says that more than 70% of firearms submitted to the ATF from Mexico for tracing originated in the U.S.
A trio of Democratic U.S. senators called for tougher firearms laws and regulations after releasing a report that showed a large number of weapons used by Mexico drug gangs originating north of the border.
More than 70% of 29,284 firearms submitted to the U.S. Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for tracing by the Mexican government during 2009 and 2010 originated in the United States, according to the report.
"Congress has been virtually moribund while powerful Mexican drug trafficking organizations continue to gain unfettered access to military-style firearms coming from the United States," said Sen. Diane Feinstein of California.
Feinstein was joined in her call by Senators Charles Schumer, D-New York, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island.
In a letter this month to Feinstein, the ATF acknowledged that the United States keeps no record of criminal firearms seized in Mexico and that "the Mexican government does not submit every recovered firearm to ATF for tracing."
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As a result, the ATF-provided figures may not be representative of all firearms recovered by Mexican officials.
"This report confirms what many of us already know to be true ... it is still too easy for Mexican drug lords to get their hands on deadly military-grade weapons within our borders," said Schumer. "We need to redouble our efforts to keep violent firearms out of the hands of these traffickers."
The senators are calling for reinstatement of an assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 and better enforcement of a ban on the import of military style weapons.
They also want to close a provision that allows private sellers at gun shows to sell weapons without a background check.
"This report outlines common sense measures that will help protect our border and our communities by keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of Mexican gangs and drug cartels," Whitehouse said.
Violence associated with drug cartels has been a growing problem in Mexico, resulting in thousands of deaths and arrests for corruption throughout law enforcement.
"We're seeing large-scale violence that we didn't see 20 years ago," Andrew Selee, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, said in May.
Mexico has been critical of what it sees as lax U.S. efforts at blocking guns from ending up in the wrong hands.
"It is clear that the availability of high-powered guns in the United States for Mexican criminals is hurting bilateral security," Mexican National Security spokesman Alejandro Poire told CNN in February. "We would hope to see an overwhelming response from the United States government to prevent these guns from getting into Mexico."
The ATF is also under fire for allegations that it allowed known and suspected gun smugglers to purchase hundreds of weapons in the hope that they could be traced to their ultimate destination, believed to be border region crime syndicates.
Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, has said that under the operation, ATF lost track of hundreds of those guns.
The allegation the ATF knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser who then transported them into Mexico is "false," according to Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch.
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