Canada, United States, Mexico
US Guns Fuel Both Mexican Drug Wars and Canadian Gang Violence
Canadian Press
4 July 2008
VANCOUVER -- Illicit guns that make their way across the U.S. border into Canada are a serious problem but a relative nuisance compared with the desperate battle being fought on the U.S.-Mexico border, say officials. More than 4,000 people -- including hundreds of police officers -- have died in the last 18 months as the Mexican government battles the country's powerful drug cartels. Border cities such as Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Gun Show Loophole Lets US Weapon Dealers Arm Mexican Drug Wars
National Public Radio (USA), Transcript
26 June 2008
Violence across Mexico has intensified as the government has fought against the country's powerful drug cartels, often well-armed from the U.S. Host Bob Moon asks journalist James Verini what can be done to stem the cross-border arms trade. Text of Interview [Link to audio in the original] Bob Moon: It's now official: We've all got the right to own a gun. The Supreme Court settled the matter today for the first... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Gun Dealers Provide Smugglers with Weapons for Mexican Drug War
BBC News
18 June 2008
MEXICO CITY -- So far this year more than 1,400 people have died in Mexico as drug cartels battle one another for control of the illegal drugs trade to the US, and battle the authorities trying to stop them. The dead include more than 400 police officers and other public officials. This follows 2,500 deaths last year and the same number in 2006. Estimates by the US Drug Enforcement Agency suggest the drugs trade... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Almost All Guns in Mexico's Drug Wars Are From US Dealers, Gun Shows
Portfolio (USA), July Issue
16 June 2008
The U.S. has pledged more than $1 billion to help Mexico win its war on drugs. But even as the body count rises above 10,000, most of the guns that do the killing -- Colt .38 Supers and big-bore Barrett rifles among them -- keep pouring in from the U.S. Alfredo Beltrán Leyva was arrested on January 21 in Culiacán, capital of the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The circumstances of his arrest lived up to his high standing in Mexico's... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US-to-Mexico 'Iron River' Provides 90% of Guns Used in Drug Gang Wars
El Paso Times (Texas)
15 June 2008
The rise in cartel violence in Juárez has made U.S. law enforcement officials all too aware that many of the weapons used for crimes in Mexico come from the United States. Insiders have come to describe illegal gun trafficking from the U.S. to Mexico as the Iron River, a trade route that extends well beyond the border as illegal gun dealers are pulling weapons from U.S. cities "The flow of weapons are going from the United... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Texans Fuel Mexican Drug Wars with 'Virtual Arsenals' of Easy-buy Guns
Dallas Morning News (Texas), Editorial
12 June 2008
For every ounce of cocaine and heroin smuggled through Mexico into the United States, an equally deadly instrument of death moves south. Each year, virtual arsenals cross illegally from Texas into the hands of murderous drug cartels. The illicit weapons trade provides the muscle behind the Mexican cartels' brazen campaigns of kidnapping, torture and murder on both sides of the border. While some weapons are swiped from... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Fuels, Fights Gun-led Insurrection in Mexico, Fosters Chaos at Home
Huffington Post (USA), Blog
10 June 2008
In towns along the United States-Mexico border, a battle is raging between drug cartels and the Mexican government that has left thousands of innocent civilians and Mexican police officials dead. A galvanizing moment occurred on May 8, when assassins shot and killed Edgar Gomez, Mexico's top cop and an anti-cartel crusader, as he exited his home north of Mexico City. Gomez is just one of 6,000 Mexican government officials and police officers... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Licensed Texas Gun Dealer Supplied Mexican Drug Wars - Feds [Part 2 of 2]
Laredo Morning Times (Texas)
26 May 2008
While hundreds of firearms are illegally shipped into Mexico from Texas every year, not all weapons are necessarily meant to cross the Rio Grande. In 2006, ATF agents in Laredo arrested two men, Roberto Lopez and Norberto Olivares, after undercover investigations yielded evidence they were heavily involved in weapons trading. ATF agents, Laredo Police Department officers, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents found... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Texas Gun Dealer Supplied Mexican Drug Wars - Feds [Part 2 of 2] [Espanol]
El Tiempo (Laredo, Texas)
26 May 2008
Mientras que cientos de armas son ilegalmente enviadas a México desde Texas anualmente, no todas las armas necesariamente cruzan el Río Bravo. En el 2006, agentes de la ATF arrestaron a dos hombres, Roberto Lopez y Norberto Olivares, después de que una investigación secreta arrojara evidencia de que se encontraban fuertemente implicados en el comercio de armas. Agentes de la ATF, oficiales del Departamento de Policía... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Texas in First Place for Gun Running to Mexico [Part 1 of 2] [Espanol]
El Tiempo (Laredo, Texas)
25 May 2008
Agentes federales que trabajan a lo largo de la frontera de Texas con México se han percatado de que los cárteles de drogas tienen una nueva afinidad para un tipo en particular de armas. "Es una 5.7 (milímetros)", informó Elias Bazan, agente residente responsible de la oficina de Laredo del US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "En México ya la denominan 'mata policías'. Es una pequeña arma muy poderosa.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Gun Shows, Dealers Fuel Gun Running to Mexican Drug War [Part 1 of 2]
Laredo Morning Times (Texas)
25 May 2008
Federal agents working along the Texas-Mexico border have noticed drug cartels have a new affinity for a particular type of firearm. "It's a 5.7 (mm)," said Elias Bazan, the resident agent in charge of the Laredo field office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "In Mexico, they already call it the 'cop killer.' It's a very powerful little handgun. Here recently, that has been more a weapon of choice."... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Should Focus on Stemming Cross-Border Gun Running, Says Mexico
Reuters
24 May 2008
MEXICO CITY -- The chief of Mexico's war on drug gangs said Washington should concentrate on halting the flow of arms to Mexican drug cartels rather than haggle over how much aid to give Mexico's anti-smuggling operation. Reacting to a vote by U.S. lawmakers to trim an aid package for the drug war, Mexico's deputy attorney general, Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, said an alternative would be to keep the cash in the United States... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
US Guns, Demand Fuel Mexican Drug Wars: Casualty Rate Higher Than Iraq
Denver Post (Colorado), Opinion
23 May 2008
Only lightly noted on this side of the border, our neighbor Mexico is engulfed in bloody, violent combat with and between death-dealing drug cartels. In a stunning reversal for President Felipe Calderon's crusade to subdue the drug trade and its perpetrators, Edgar Gomez, the national police chief and lead anti-cartel crusader, was assassinated this month outside his Mexico City home. "This could have a snowball effect, even leading... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Texas Gun Dealers Fuel Mexican Drug Wars with Pistols, Assault Weapons
El Paso Times (Texas)
22 May 2008
High-powered rifles and handguns used by drug cartel hit men waging a bloody war in Mexico have been traced to suspected gun smugglers in El Paso, an ATF agent testified Wednesday at a federal detention hearing in El Paso. Money and weapons flowing from the United States fuel drug trafficking and organized crime in Mexico, to the tune of about $10 billion a year, Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, Mexico's deputy federal attorney general... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Guns Bought in US 'Fuel All the Violence' in Mexican Drug Wars, Say Feds
El Paso Times (Texas)
21 May 2008
One of two men arrested in El Paso last week by ATF agents on charges of smuggling firearms into Mexico is to appear in federal court today. In a six-count indictment, Mexican citizen and permanent legal resident Juan Carlos Meza and U.S. citizen Roberto Marquez are alleged to have taken part in a scheme to buy guns and rifles in El Paso and export them to Mexico, where they were purchased by someone who cannot legally purchase... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Mexican Drug War 'Hit Guns' Traced to Texas Gun Buyer, El Paso Gun Shop
El Paso Times (Texas)
21 May 2008
Guns recovered in a shootout in Chihuahua City in September 2006 were traced to an El Paso man, according to testimony by an ATF agent during a detention hearing today at the federal courthouse. Juan Carlos Meza is accused of buying several handguns and rifles at gun shops in El Paso that were then allegedly exported to Mexico, including buying weapons for a drug cartel hit man, testified Special Agent Frank Henderson in the U.S.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Car Full of 'Accidental' Guns, Ammunition Lands US Soldier in Mexican Jail
Associated Press
9 May 2008
EL PASO, Texas -- When he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, Spc. Richard Torres was carrying a small arsenal in his car: an AR-15 assault rifle, a .45-caliber handgun, 171 rounds of ammunition, several cartridges and three knives. At a checkpoint, Torres didn't try to hide the weapons. But he insisted he hadn't meant to cross the border with the guns, which in Mexico are restricted for use only by the military. While searching for... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Licensed Arizona Dealer 'Knowingly' Sold 650 Guns for Mexican Drug Wars
Associated Press
6 May 2008
PHOENIX -- The arrest of a gun shop owner on Tuesday broke up a suspected firearms trafficking operation that supplied violent Mexican drug cartels, authorities said. Agents raided X Calibur Guns and arrested George Iknadosian after undercover agents bought guns at the store indicating they were to be trafficked to Mexico, said Carlos Baixauli, a special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Gun Shop 'Knowingly and Willingly' Sold Assault Rifles to Mexican Gangs
ABC News (USA)
6 May 2008
Just hours after receiving a shipment of weapons allegedly intended for Mexican drug bosses, a Phoenix gun dealer and at least two alleged arms traffickers were arrested this morning in a series of raids by federal and local authorities. Authorities say the gun dealer sold more than 650 AK-47-type assault weapons to Mexican drug gangs responsible for recent shootouts that have claimed dozens of lives. Sources in Phoenix, Ariz.,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
8 Gun Runners, Woman Straw Buyer Bought Guns in US, Sold to Mexico
Brownsville Herald (Texas)
28 April 2008
Two of the eight people arrested last week by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on charges of selling firearms to the Mexican cartel have been released on bond. Melissa Cannon, 23, and Celestino Alvarez, 36, who are each charged with one count of unlawfully selling firearms presumably to members of the Gulf Cartel, have each posted a $30,00 bond, according to court documents. Cannon and Alvarez, along with Miguel... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Porous US-Mexico Border Lets Slip Guns, Gun Runners, Money Every Day
Arizona Republic
23 April 2008
GREEN VALLEY -- Thousands of border agents, dozens of checkpoints and hundreds of miles of barriers are set up to stop contraband and illegal immigrants getting into the United States. But little more than a chance roadside inspection stops smugglers going the other way. That imbalance shows no sign of changing soon, but it has given rise to a novel experiment under way in Pima County. There, the Sheriff's Department has... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Religious Charity CEO 'Smuggled' .50cal, Assault Rifles from US to Mexico
El Paso Times (Texas)
26 March 2008
One of the men caught in El Paso trying to smuggle a .50-caliber semiautomatic rifle and other weapons into Mexico last week is the CEO of a religious charity, officials with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms confirmed Tuesday. Jonathan Lopez Gutierrez, 32, is the CEO of Emmanuel Ministries, a 40-year-old shelter for about 100 children in Juárez, a medical and dental clinic and a ballet program, according to the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Gun Shows, Dealers Supply Military-style Guns for Mexican Drug Wars
CNN Special Investigations Unit
26 March 2008
JUAREZ, Mexico -- A deadly trade is occurring along the U.S. Border with Mexico, federal officials say -- a flood of guns, heading south, used by drug thugs to kill Mexican cops. In Mexico, guns are difficult to purchase legally. So, officials say, weapons easily purchased in the United States are turning up there. "The same routes that are being used to traffic drugs north -- and the same organizations that have control... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Gun Shows, Dealers Supply Gun Runners Who Fuel Mexican Drug Wars
El Paso Times (Texas)
21 March 2008
A semi-automatic, 50-caliber weapon and 23 other guns were seized from border arms traffickers by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents, officials said Friday. The weapons, purchased at El Paso gun shows, gun shops and the Internet, were headed for Mexico to be resold to unknown persons. Officials arrested John Aguilar, a U.S. citizen living in El Paso, who was allegedly a "straw man"... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Gun Shows, Dealers Fuel Mexican Drug Wars with Assault Weapons
Reuters
16 March 2008
PHOENIX -- The agent raised the machine gun to his shoulder and let rip a deafening hail of shots that smacked through a bullet proof vest, punched holes in a car door and spat up a plume of sand in the levee behind. Taking the plugs out of my ringing ears, I walked over the gritty desert firing range to look at the damage from the Kalashnikov. The traffic of guns of this type from the United States to the warring Mexican... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Mexican Police Seize Assault Rifles, Ammunition in Tourist Area of Cancun
International Herald Tribune / AP
11 March 2008
CANCUN, Mexico -- Mexican police said they seized 20 high-powered rifles, 14 grenades and more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition on Monday in a hotel district in the popular resort of Cancun. Federal police made the discovery in an apartment in the swank housing development known as "The Waves" in the heart of Cancun's tourist district, state Attorney General Bello Melchor Rodriguez told The Associated Press by phone. Among... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Feds Tackle 'Unprecedented Surge' of Gun Smuggling from US to Mexico
Washington Times
5 March 2008
A flood of high-powered weapons purchased by Mexican drug smugglers from sellers in the United States has been targeted by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as part of a law-enforcement initiative aimed at stemming rising border violence. During the past two years, more than 125 ATF agents and investigators have been deployed along the southwest border in Project Gunrunner to increase "strategic... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, South America, Central America
80 Million Civilian Guns in Latin America, Gun Control 'Urgent Problem' - OAS
Xinhua
25 February 2008
MEXICO CITY -- Individuals own 80 million guns in Latin America, and the region sees 90,000 armed attacks a year, according to an Organization of American States (OAS) document published in Mexico's media on Monday. Speaking last week during an official visit to Mexico, the OAS secretary general, Jose Miguel Insulza, said that guns in private hands represent a major and growing security risk. He said that controlling the flow of... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Four Tons of Assault Weapons, Ammunition Taken from Mexican Drug Gang
Prensa Latina (Havana)
8 February 2008
The Mexican army confiscated four tons of weapons from a farm located on the border state of Tamaulipas, authorities confirmed Friday. The shipment, belonging to "Los Zetas" drug trafficking group, a military arm of the so-called Gulf Cartel, was stored along with nine tons of marihuana, the report stated. Federal officials revealed that among the confiscated arms there were plastic explosives, grenades, a 50-caliber machine... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Gun Smuggling from United States Is 'No. 1 Crime Problem' Facing Mexico
US House of Representatives, Speech
7 February 2008
Chairman Engel, Ranking Member Burton, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee: I am William Hoover, Assistant Director for Field Operations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). I have been an agent with ATF since 1987, and in my current position I oversee the operations of all of the Bureau's field offices, including those along the Southwest Border. It is an honor to appear before you today to discuss... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Agrees to Help Trace American Gun Dealers Arming Mexican Drug Wars
Reuters
16 January 2008
MEXICO CITY -- U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Wednesday promised tougher controls on guns flowing illegally over the U.S. border to Mexico, where drug cartels have murdered 115 people already this month. Visiting Mexican counterpart Eduardo Medina Mora in his first foreign trip since taking office in November, Mukasey said the spurt in violence in the first two weeks of 2008 dramatized the need to keep up pressure on what... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Gun Dealers Supply .50 Rifles, Assault Weapons in Mexican Drug Wars
Dallas Morning News (Texas)
16 January 2008
Faced with spiraling drug violence along the border, senior U.S. officials met with their Mexican counterparts Wednesday and announced steps to stem the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico. Officials said that many of the weapons -- including powerful handguns and semiautomatic assault rifles -- are purchased legally at shops and gun shows, and that Houston and Dallas are two of the top sources. The guns are typically carried south... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Mexico Flooded With 4 Million Smuggled Guns - 'Almost Always' from USA
ISN Security Watch (Zurich), Web Page
30 October 2007
As news and rumors swirl around the current status and future success of the Merida Initiative, a plan to combat narco-trafficking in Mexico, those who argue the plan's merits can agree on at least one point: The front line of the so-called war on drugs has moved north from Colombia to the US-Mexican border, but the focus on drugs has overshadowed an element of the regional black market that is just as important. Mexican authorities... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Mexican Police Say '100%' of Drug-gang Killings Involve Smuggled US Guns
Washington Post
29 October 2007
TIJUANA, Mexico -- Assassins blasted Ricardo Rosas Alvarado, a member of an elite state police force, with a blizzard of bullets pumped out of AK-47 assault rifles. Alvarado crumpled at the wheel of his sedan, yet another victim of the weapons known here as "goat's horns" because of their curved ammunition clips, and which can fire at a rate of 600 rounds per minute. The killing, Mexican authorities said, was a panorama of blood,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
US-Mexico Gun Runners, Dealers Thrive as Demand, Smuggling Soar
StratFor, Web Page
25 October 2007
The number of drug-related killings in Mexico in 2007 already has surpassed 2,000, an increase of 300 over the same period last year, according to statistics reported by Mexican media outlets. Moreover, sources familiar with the issue say police officials in some jurisdictions have been purposely underreporting drug-related homicides, suggesting that the real body count is even higher. In addition to the Mexican drug cartels that... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Mexicans Shot Dead in 2006 Topped 2,000: Most Guns Smuggled From USA
Prensa Latina (Havana)
10 October 2007
MEXICO -- The Conference of National Chambers of Commerce, Service and Tourism of Mexico warned against the escalation of crime in the Federal District. The situation, says the institution, endangers the people, who have been victims of armed assaults over the past two years. Authorities said that the second major crime in the country is arms smuggling, only second to drug trafficking. They added that more than 2,000 people... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Guns Deluge Mexico: Gun Shows, Dealers Feed Smugglers, Drug Trade
El Paso Times (Texas)
23 September 2007
The cartels that smuggle millions of dollars worth of drugs into the United States are able to work their trade, in part, because of weapons they get rather easily from the United States, according to Mexican and U.S. authorities. In this country, the issue of illegal immigration has been growing in importance with rhetoric often outpacing the facts. But for Mexico, the problem is flowing in the other direction. Thousands... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
3 High-Ranking Mexican Police Officers Arrested Shopping at US Gun Show
Associated Press
12 September 2007
PHOENIX, Arizona -- Three high-ranking Mexican police officers were arrested on allegations of buying weapons and ammunition at a gun show in Phoenix in violation of a law barring noncitizens from purchasing firearms, a U.S. official said Wednesday. The three had crossed the border at Calexico, Calif., in an official police vehicle and driven to Phoenix, said Tom Mangan, a spokesman with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Assault Rifles, Armour Piercing Weapons Flood Mexico from US Gun Shows
Associated Press
15 August 2007
MEXICO CITY -- Authorities are sounding the alarm about an influx of assault rifles, armor-piercing pistols and fragmentation grenades from the United States, weapons that they say are increasingly being used to kill police and soldiers fighting drug cartels. U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials report a sharp increase in both the flow and firepower of U.S. weapons across the border. Particularly worrisome are assault rifles... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Lax American Gun Laws, Gun Shows Make US/Mexico Gun Smuggling Easy
Christian Science Monitor, Editorial
20 July 2007
Lax gun laws and enforcement in the US only feed the 'iron river' of weapons across the border. It's not only poverty propelling Mexicans into the US. Rising gun violence by drug gangs, and lately a military surge against them, have driven many to cross the border. And where do these drug cartels get their arsenal of weapons? El Norte, of course. Lax gun laws and lax enforcement in the United States have made it easy for Mexican... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Studies Show How US Gun Show Sales Fuel Violent Drug Wars in Mexico
Christian Science Monitor
20 July 2007
PHOENIX -- A young man is shopping at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show here, and there's plenty to choose from. The cavernous hall is packed with tables loaded with long guns and pistols, some barrels etched with names like El Capitán (The Captain) and El Supremo (The Best). Eventually he makes a cellphone call, and a young woman soon joins him. At a table he'd visited earlier, he points to several semiautomatic rifles and walks... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
US Provides 90% of Crime Guns Confiscated in Mexican Drug Wars
Christian Science Monitor
19 July 2007
MEXICO CITY -- Marcelo Garza y Garza, the top state police investigator in Nuevo Leon, walked out of a church in an upscale neighborhood in Monterrey to take a cellphone call last September, when two bullets struck the back of his head. The shots came from a semiautomatic pistol that did precisely what its colloquial name -- matapolicia, or "police killer" -- suggests. Mr. Garza y Garza died immediately. "Police killers,"... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
'Unstoppable' Flood of Illegal Guns from America Fuels Drug Wars in Mexico
San Francisco Chronicle
15 July 2007
MEXICO CITY -- For more than a decade, Mexico has had military checkpoints on all northbound highways leading to the United States. It's part of the campaign to crack down on the flow of drugs to the United States. This summer, things have changed, and Mexico's military is inspecting vehicles traveling on the southbound lanes, checking for shipments of weapons. This reversal is testament to the dangers Mexico faces, bordering the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
'Iron River of Guns' Pours 1000's of Weapons Each Week from US to Mexico
Reuters
13 July 2007
PHOENIX -- When machinegun-toting hit men fought a bloody battle with police and troops around the Mexico town of Cananea that left 23 dead in May, it at first seemed to be the latest chapter in a very Mexican drug war. But as U.S. and Mexican detectives subsequently traced powerful assault weapons recovered from the battlefield to Texas and Arizona, it raised the curtain on a deadly and controversial flow of arms from the United... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Feds Say They Can't Stop US Gun Show Patrons Smuggling Arms to Mexico
Arizona Republic
16 June 2007
MEXICO CITY -- Federal authorities do not have enough agents to regularly patrol gun shows, a major source for U.S. weapons used in Mexico's drug wars, a top official said Thursday during a visit to the Mexican capital. Mexican officials have complained about how easy it is to buy firearms from private, unlicensed sellers at such shows. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales vowed last week to crack down on such gun-running.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
As Gun Wars Grow, Mexico Slams Slack US Gun Laws as 'Cynical, Absurd'
Kansas City Star (Missouri) / AP
14 June 2007
Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina called U.S. policies on drugs and firearms "cynical" and "absurd," some of the toughest language used by Mexican officials prodding Washington to cut U.S. drug demand and stem the flow of guns they say fuel violence here. "American law to me is absurd because people can easily acquire firearms," the newspaper El Universal newspaper quoted Medina as saying at a conference on Wednesday. Medina's... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Mexico Slams 'Absurd' US Firearm Laws as Gun Violence, Drug Wars Rage
Reuters
14 June 2007
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's government, which complains violent drug cartels are battling each other with firearms bought in the United States, slammed slack U.S. gun laws as absurd on Thursday. Mexico complains most of the often high-powered weapons used by warring Mexican traffickers come from gun shops in the United States and Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said there was not enough control over their sale. "I... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Washington Promises to 'Take Steps' to Curb US-Mexico Gun Running
Dallas Morning News (Texas) / AP
8 June 2007
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Friday that Washington is taking steps to address Mexican concerns the U.S. is not doing enough to stop illegal weapons from being smuggled across the border and into the hands of brutal drug gangs. A meeting here of attorneys general from the U.S., Mexico and six other Latin American countries focused on Mexican complaints weapons from the United States are fueling a wave of cartel-related... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Arizona Gun Smuggling Trade Fuels Drug Wars, Police Killings in Mexico
Arizona Republic
24 May 2007
A weapon seized after a drug-war massacre last week at a Mexican border town was sold in Phoenix in another sign that southbound gunrunning and the firepower of drug cartels have accelerated in the last few months. "There is a war going on on the border between two cartels. What do they need to fight that war? Guns. Where do they get them? From here," said William Newell, special agent in charge of the Phoenix division of Bureau... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Mexico Urges US to Stop Cross-border Gun Running to Drug Traffickers
ABC News (USA) / AP
15 May 2007
MEXICO CITY -- A top Mexican anti-drug official said the United States must do more to stop weapons from being smuggled into the hands of drug traffickers who are using them to kill Mexican soldiers and police. Mexican authorities are facing gunfire from increasingly well-armed traffickers and officials say the vast majority of the weapons are smuggled from the United States. Assistant Secretary of Public Safety Patricio Patino... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
In Campaign to Curb Gun Deaths, Mexico Swaps Firearms for Computers
Associated Press
28 March 2007
MEXICO CITY -- Police in the Mexican capital have kicked off a campaign to exchange guns for computers and other gifts in an attempt to reduce firearm deaths. On the first day of the program in Tepito, a neighborhood known for drug dealing and street markets rife with contraband, officers collected 29 guns Tuesday and gave out several desktop computers along with packets of food and cash. "Imagine how Mexico City would... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Mexico Demands US Must Do More to Stop Flood of Smuggled Guns, Cash
Associated Press
28 March 2007
MEXICO CITY, Mexico -- Mexico's attorney general on Wednesday demanded U.S. authorities do more to stop guns and drug money from heading south and fueling the drug violence in Mexico that left more 2,000 dead last year. Eduardo Medina Mora told a business forum that the vast majority of arms used by the soldiers of drug cartels, including assault rifles and grenades, are smuggled from the United States. "It's truly absurd... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Xbox for Your Gun? Mexico Tries Weapon Swap in Fight Against Violence
Reuters
27 March 2007
MEXICO CITY -- Police who have raided vice-ridden Mexico City neighborhoods in a push against drug violence hope to take guns off the streets by offering to swap them for computers and video-game consoles. Launching the program on Tuesday in the notorious inner-city barrio of Tepito, which police stormed last month, city police chief Joel Ortega said anyone who turns in a high-caliber weapon like a machine gun will get a computer.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
US Guns, Newly Unregulated Assault Weapons Fuel Gun Violence in Mexico
USA Today / Arizona Republic
18 January 2007
MEXICO CITY -- Combat-style rifles are pouring into Mexico, thanks to the end of the U.S. Assault Weapons Ban in 2004 and an arms race among several Mexican cartels battling for control of lucrative drug routes. The weapons are purchased at stores and gun shows, then smuggled into Mexico under car seats or tucked into suitcases. "There is a direct relationship between the flow of these weapons and the explosion of violence,"... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
US Ban Lifted, Assault Weapons 'Sell Like Candy' to Mexican Gun Runners
Arizona Republic
16 January 2007
MEXICO CITY -- The Mexican village of Zazalpa got a chilling lesson in American-made firepower recently. Homes, cars, everything was destroyed. Even the cows were shot. About 60 Mexican drug smugglers rolled into Zazalpa, 300 miles southeast of Douglas, looking for a rival trafficker in November. They rounded up residents, then raked the empty village with American-made AR-15 rifles. The destruction of Zazalpa is just one... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Texas Gun Shops Supply Guns Smuggled to Mexican Drug Lords, Say Feds
WFAA-TV News / Al Día (Dallas/Fort Worth)
5 December 2006
A Lancaster man under investigation in the sale of high-powered weapons to Mexican drug traffickers is expected to plead guilty to a federal firearms charge next week, court records show. Members of a U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives task force arrested Erasmo Arciba in September as part of an ongoing investigation into weapons sales to the Zetas, a group of mercenaries employed by Mexico's Gulf Cartel. Authorities... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, Australia, South America
How and Why Australia's Gun Laws Were Reformed [Espanol]
Tus Abogados (Mexico)
1 August 2006
[Translated summary: IANSA Director Rebecca Peters describes how Australia's gun laws were reformed from a background of domestic violence prevention]. Rebecca Peters es una abogada australiana que logró la recolección y destrucción de 700 mil armas en su país y fuertes reformas en la legislación, gracias a las cuales, las muertes por armas de fuego bajaron un 65 por ciento. Hoy, dirige IANSA (International Accion Network on... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Border No Barrier to Weaponry: Most Illegal Firearms Traced to U.S.
Toronto Star (Ontario), Series
24 April 2006
TIJUANA, Mexico -- It was another deadly day in this lively border town, a day of drugs, delinquents and guns. Before the day was out, four male denizens of the community had been murdered, execution-style, three of them by gunshots to the head. The fourth man was strangled. During the same day, a fifth man was killed in what was later described as a shoot-out with local police. That was on Feb.8. "Incontenible ola de crimenes!"... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Illegal US-Mexico Arms Flow Rising Quickly, Say Officials
Miami Herald (Florida) / El Universal
2 April 2006
Criminals are smuggling a rising number of guns from the United States to Mexico. U.S. federal investigators say it's a simple matter of supply and demand. Warring Mexican gangs need weapons and are reaching into the bountiful and legal supply just across the border to build their arsenals. Because of rigid firearms restrictions in their country, authorities say, Mexican criminals are increasingly dispatching operatives... ( gunpolicy.org )
Caribbean, Central America, Honduras, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil
Guns and Cocaine in Caribbean, Central America: A Market Out of Control
ISN Security Watch (Zurich), Web Page
28 February 2006
Gone are the days when the black market for cocaine required a few strong men, limited bribes, and involved the purchase of a few revolvers. The cocaine trade has expanded well beyond the Andean mountain corridor and the control of local actors there. The market for small arms and light weapons has completely overlapped the cocaine market. Purchases for arms are no longer made with cash but with cocaine, and the same routes used... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Crime-wracked Mexican State Wants $24 Million Bank Loan to Buy Guns
Reuters
17 February 2006
MEXICO CITY -- Wracked by violent drug crime and too poor to arm its police properly, the Mexican state of Guerrero is seeking a $24 million bank loan to buy more guns and security equipment. The local government plans to use the credit, approved by its Congress, to get guns, communications gear and police cars for the most cash-strapped parts of Guerrero, one of Mexico's poorest states, the state government said on Friday. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Mexican Gun Buy-backs Attract Regular Folk, Not Criminals
Miami Herald (Florida) / El Universal
6 February 2006
MONTERREY, Mexico -- Luz Elena Delgado's hands were sweating and nervousness showed on her face as she waited in line to trade in her 25-caliber pistol. The pistol, she explained, was left to her husband by his father, who had been a police commissioner in the city of Torreón, Coahuila. "A year ago, just before he died, he told us: 'Here it is, keep it as a memento. Hopefully you'll never use it, but maybe one day it will... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Relentless 'Trickle' of Guns from US to Mexico Taking Deadly Toll
Houston Chronicle (Texas)
4 February 2006
BROWNSVILLE, Texas -- Drugs go north and guns go south. It's been that way for decades. But now American law enforcement officials have urgent new worries about weapons that are winding up in Mexico. Underscoring their concerns, U.S. firearms agents earlier this year beefed up their anti-smuggling operations in South Texas. And on Friday, a Homeland Security task force announced its first success: The seizure of a stunning array... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Mexico City Offers New Computers for Old Guns
Reuters
21 January 2006
MEXICO CITY -- Mexicans are being invited to exchange their weapons for computers under a quirky new idea to curb rampant crime in Mexico City. Authorities in one of the city's 16 districts are offering a new computer, out of 150 donated by a charitable foundation, for each gun handed in. "People often have a gun at home, which could perhaps be for self-defense, but sadly it becomes a family tragedy when it is not used... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Mexican Criminals Turn to US for Weapons, Authorities Say
San Jose Mercury News / Knight Ridder Newspapers
16 January 2006
WASHINGTON -- Federal investigators say it's a simple matter of supply and demand. Warring Mexican gangs need weapons and are reaching into the bountiful and legal supply just across the border to build their arsenals. Because of rigid firearms restrictions in their country, authorities say, Mexican criminals are increasingly dispatching operatives to sporting goods stores, gun shows and flea markets in Texas and other... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Guns Flow Easily Into Mexico from the US
Los Angeles Times
8 January 2006
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico -- The most popular instruments of robbery, torture, homicide and assassination in this violence-racked border city are imported from the United States. "Warning," reads the sign greeting motorists on the U.S. side as they approach the Rio Grande that separates the two countries here. "Illegal to carry firearms/ammunition into Mexico. Penalty, prison." The signs have done little to stop what... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Mexican Criminals Turning to US for Easy Gun Purchases
Tucson Citizen (Arizona)
5 January 2006
In mid-November, Mexican police Officer Alan Rodriguez caught a pair of armed bandits who had just assaulted a group of immigrants. The assault took place in Sasabe, in Sonora, but the .38- and .22-caliber guns, as with most weapons used by border bandits, came from the United States. The two said they'd purchased them in Tucson. Guns are largely illegal in Mexico and difficult for private citizens to attain. The application... ( gunpolicy.org )
El Salvador, Paraguay, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Central America, South America
At Least 90 People Killed in Latin American New Year Celebrations
Australian Associated Press
2 January 2006
SAN SALVADOR -- At least 90 people were killed in Latin America in road, fireworks and other accidents during New Year's celebrations. The highest death toll was registered in El Salvador, where some 33 people were killed and another 89 injured during celebrations marking the start of 2006, officials said. Carlos Alvarado, a spokesman for the country's civil defence system, said that many of those killed and wounded from... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Two More Held in US-Mexico Gunrunning Probe
Arizona Daily Star (Tucson)
24 November 2005
Two more people have been arrested in connection with a firearms-trafficking ring with ties to Mexico. Antonio Moran, 20, and Francisco Coronado, 28, both of Douglas, were arrested Sunday and Tuesday, respectively, said Special Agent Sigberto Celaya of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. They and five others are accused of buying firearms, including AK-47s, and giving them to other people to carry into Mexico,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Mexico Lacks Effective Controls of Guns Within its Borders [Espanol]
El Nuevo Herald (Miami) / AP
18 October 2005
[Translated summary: New report cites official estimate of 4.49 million guns in Mexico, with 1 in 6 homes armed. Unofficial estimates count more than 15 million guns. Rebecca Peters of IANSA says small arms kill more people than other weapons of mass destruction]. MEXICO -- México carece de un control y registro efectivo de las armas ligeras que existen en el territorio, con lo cual se corre el riesgo de que aumenten los accidentes,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
US Feds Blame Mexico's Firearm Laws for Border Gun Trade
Brownsville Herald (Texas)
16 August 2005
BROWNSVILLE, Texas -- Mexico's strict gun control laws are contributing to an illegal gun market and easier access to weapons, according to U.S. law enforcement officials that are close observers of a recent upswing in border violence. Since January, more than 600 people have been killed in an ongoing war between rival drug cartels using high-powered handguns and assault rifles fighting for control of drug smuggling routes on the... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
US Arms Fuel Drug Violence on Mexican Border
El Universal (Florida)
3 August 2005
Mexico's strict controls, coupled with loose ones in the United States, have turned the nation into a lucrative market for small arms traffickers. As the U.S. government continues to criticize Mexico for failing to control rising drug-related violence, many of the guns used in the recent wave of killings are smuggled into Mexico from the United States, according to defense officials. Last week, police in Nuevo Laredo used... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Trafficker Indicted for Shipping 211 Guns, Assault Rifles to Mexico
Tuscon Citizen (Arizona)
23 July 2005
A Tucson man is being sought after his indictment by a federal grand jury on 24 criminal counts in a suspected gun-trafficking case, the U.S. Attorney's Office says. Paul F. Stine, 57, was indicted Wednesday on charges that from October 2001 to May 2004 he bought 211 firearms and lied to federally licensed firearms dealers on purchase forms. He claimed to be buying the guns for himself, when he really was given the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Border Violence Fuelled by US Gun Smugglers, Officials Say
Brownsville Herald (Texas)
2 July 2005
Guns that are illegally purchased in the Rio Grande Valley and smuggled into Mexico are being used in brutal acts of drug-related violence across the border, federal authorities said Fri-day. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) officials said paper trails have led them to dozens of Valley residents who made "straw purchases" for suspected gun smugglers. Law enforcement officials consider a straw purchase as buying... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Men Busted Attempting to Smuggle Ammunition from US to Mexico
Associated Press
30 June 2005
Customs agents have arrested three men on charges alleging they tried to smuggle 6,700 rounds of ammunition into Mexico. Jose Guadalupe Magallanes Garcia, Juan Manuel Magallanes Garcia and Hector Garza Andrade were arrested Tuesday at the Veterans International Bridge on federal ammunition smuggling charges. The men appeared in court Wednesday and bond was set at $50,000 apiece. A preliminary hearing was set for July 7.... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Illegal Guns Flood Mexico as Drugs Flow North to U.S.
National Public Radio: Day to Day
26 May 2005
Arms smuggling from the United States into Mexico has become a big factor in an increased level of violence south of the border. Mexico's gun laws are stricter than those in the United States, so as illegal drugs flow north into America, illegal weapons go south into Mexico. Another recent NPR radio item on the US/Mexico gun trade can be heard at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4667316 ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Tijuana Awash in Wave of Armed Crime
Los Angeles Times
22 May 2005
TIJUANA -- Waving AK-47 rifles, the black-hooded force of 10 assailants barged into the hacienda-style restaurant at lunch. The team, wearing commando uniforms, grabbed the co-owner, jumped into a convoy of three vehicles and disappeared. A week later, 10 men -- wearing similar black outfits -- stormed the swank Club Campestre, snatched a 30-year-old businessman and escaped by crashing the convoy through the security gate. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Third Man Charged With Smuggling Weapons to Mexico
Yuma Sun (Arizona)
14 May 2005
A third person has been charged in Yuma Justice Court with allegedly using fake identification to buy semi-automatic weapons intended to be smuggled into Mexico. Augustin Vasquez, 23, of 18125 Avenue 3E, was charged with eight felonies, including conspiracy to commit misconduct involving weapons, fraudulent schemes and artifices, taking the identity of another and five counts of forgery in the alleged buying of an AK-47 for Juan... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Mexico Detains Two U.S. Agents Carrying Illegal Ammunition
Associated Press
3 May 2005
MONTERREY, Mexico -- Mexico detained two U.S. border patrol agents during a routine border check that uncovered a box filled with illegal ammunition in their car, the Mexican federal attorney general's office said Tuesday. U.S. Border Patrol agents German Verdugo and David Allen Navarro were arrested late Friday in Mexicali, across from Calexico, Calif., said U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Miguel Hernandez. He said the agents... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Parishioners Support Sacked Gun Toting Priest
BBC News
6 November 2004
Churchgoers in a central Mexican town have been enraged by the sacking of their Roman Catholic priest, known for tucking a shiny pistol under his robe. They chained shut the Chucandiro church to demand the reinstatement of Father Alfredo Gallegos, who has earned the nickname "Padre Pistolas". No reason has been given for sacking the priest, also noted for his love of cowboy boots and country music. Mexico has strict... ( gunpolicy.org )
South America, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Central America
Latin America Armed to the Teeth With 80 Million Guns [Espanol]
La Opinión (USA), Opinion
3 July 2004
GINEBRA -- Con una población conjunta de 464 millones de habitantes, 11 países -- Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, México, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay y Venezuela -, poseen hasta 80 millones de armas de fuego, según revelan los resultados de la Encuesta de armas pequeñas 2004: derechos en riesgo, realizada por el Instituto de Posgrado de Altos Estudios Internacionales, dados a conocer en Ginebra la semana pasada. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Hundreds of Thousands in Mexico March Against Crime
New York Times
27 June 2004
TIJUANA -- As an investigative reporter and editor at the weekly newspaper Zeta, Francisco Ortiz Franco knew better than most how deep crime and corruption run in this country. Still, say friends and family, he never lost faith. His sister-in-law, Socorro Ramírez, says she once challenged Mexico's steadfast opposition to the death penalty, showing Mr. Ortiz a gruesome newspaper photo of a woman's body that had been cut into pieces... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Drug Gangs Buy Arms Like 'Candy' in US, Say Officials
Reuters
26 June 2004
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico complained on Saturday that U.S. authorities allow Mexican drug gangs to buy arms in the United States "as if they were candy" due to lax controls of gun sales in border states. The Mexican attorney general's office said Mexican gangs make drug runs into the United States in light aircraft and return loaded up with weapons. "Unfortunately, the United States does not have adequate control of guns shops... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States, World
Mixed Reactions to Armed Flights
Newsday (New York)
31 December 2003
MEXICO CITY -- A U.S. order that foreign airlines place armed security agents aboard some commercial flights to and from the United States received a mixed reaction from governments, airline workers and passengers yesterday, with many hailing the move to foil terrorists and others questioning its efficacy. Airline or government officials in countries including Germany, Australia, Canada, France, Britain and Mexico said they would... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Illegal Arms Pervasive in Mexico and Most Obtained from the U.S.
Houston Chronicle (Texas)
12 October 2003
MEXICO CITY -- Juan Aguilera watched as a gun trafficker demonstrated his weapons by shooting at beer cans inside the courtyard of a decaying apartment building. As the dealer's wife and children quietly ate dinner nearby, Aguilera examined several weapons. He decided he liked a Browning pistol and handed the trafficker, whom he knew by the nickname "Pelon," or "Skinhead," the equivalent of $635. Aguilera was gun... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Actor Arrested After Using Real Bullets in Mexican Movie Scene
Associated Press
21 August 2003
MEXICO CITY -- An actor in an action scene apparently was handed a gun with real bullets rather than blanks, causing him to shoot and kill another actor, authorities said Thursday. Actor Flavio Peniche -- brother of internationally known soap-opera star Arturo Peniche -- was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and then released on bail of 400,000 pesos (nearly $40,000) on Wednesday, according to the attorney general's office of... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Latin War Surplus Feeds Deadly Trade
Chicago Tribune
24 January 2003
MEXICO CITY -- When the boxes were placed aboard the ship in Nicaragua's El Bluff harbor, the shipping manifest claimed they were filled with plastic balls for children in Panama. It was a deadly lie. The boxes were really filled with assault rifles and ammunition headed for a vicious Colombian paramilitary force that is on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. The bogus manifest was part of a string of deceit that has triggered... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
A Year Later, Prosecutors Aren't Close to Solving Human Rights Attorney's Death
Associated Press
18 October 2002
MEXICO CITY -- When Digna Ochoa was found dead on the floor of her Mexico City office a year ago, the only question for human rights groups was which of her enemies in the army, the government or the timber industry had silenced her. But the life of the 38-year-old human rights attorney was anything but simple and the investigation into her death has been far from open-and-shut. The chief investigator on the case was forced... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Mexican Prosecutors Say They're Not Playing Around With Proposals to Ban Toy Guns
Associated Press
18 August 2002
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico City prosecutors said Sunday they aren't just playing around with proposals to ban toy guns, which they say were used in several recent stickups. Berardo Batiz, Mexico City's top prosecutor, told the government news agency Notimex that his office is studying ways to ban the guns, or require toy makers to manufacture the plastic play weapons in colors less realistic than black. "We are studying proposals,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Mexican Village Buries 26 After Massacre
Associated Press
2 June 2002
SANTIAGO XOCHILTEPEC, Mexico -- The little cemetery under the piney mountains was filled to overflowing. Even some of the graves were cut extra-wide in the muddy red earth so that brother could be buried beside brother. With weeping, wailing and anger, Santiago Xochiltepec buried 26 men on Sunday, most of them young, all victims of a Friday evening massacre that grew out of a land dispute residents say is nearly seven decades old.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Dozens of Mexican Police Arrested
Associated Press
14 April 2002
TIJUANA, Mexico -- The police officers were expecting to receive an evaluation of their work. Instead, soldiers and federal police stormed a meeting Wednesday at a state police academy in the border city of Tecate, ordering dozens of officers -- including several chiefs and commanders -- to hand over their guns. They then placed them under arrest. Twenty-one city police from Tijuana and Tecate and 20 state ministerial police... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Mexico
Mexico, U.S. Join to Battle Illegal Southward Flow of Weaponry
Los Angeles Times
25 July 2001
SAN DIEGO -- Proclaiming a new spirit of cooperation in fighting crime, the top U.S. and Mexican prosecutors announced steps Tuesday to curb the flow of illegal weapons from the United States into Mexico and to improve collaboration on other law enforcement issues. U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft and his Mexican counterpart, Rafael Macedo de la Concha, also vowed to improve communication and understanding between federal prosecutors... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
U.S. Guns Smuggled Into Mexico Aid Drug War
New York Times
19 May 2001
MEXICO CITY -- Though public attention focuses on the drugs smuggled from Mexico to the north, officials here are increasingly concerned by an ever more lethal flow of guns south from the United States. The growing number of assault rifles and semiautomatic weapons showing up in shootouts and assassinations has bolstered the arms caches of Mexico's drug cartels, officials in both countries say. And they feed one of the highest rates... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Twelve Killed in Mexican Gun Attack
Reuters
15 February 2001
MEXICO CITY -- Twelve people died when a group of attackers armed with rifles burst into a community gathering in the northern state of Sinaloa, dragged them into a truck and shot them, the local attorney general's office said on Thursday. According to a transcript of a news conference faxed by the Sinaloa attorney general's office to Reuters, the attackers numbered about 15, wore hoods and had rifles, including AK-47s. Three... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
New Gun Trade: Turning Them In
Christian Science Monitor
4 May 2000
NEW YORK and MEXICO CITY -- It's a global problem -- too many weapons, too much violence. Now, at least one solution is in vogue around the world: gun buyback programs. From Mozambique to El Salvador, from the Republic of Georgia to Newark, N.J., gun owners -- legal or illegal -- are being encouraged to turn in their weapons in return for money, food, footwear, or farm tools. There is no doubt the programs work,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Mexico Arrests Two U.S. Citizens on Gun-Smuggling Charges
Associated Press
10 October 1999
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico has arrested two U.S. citizens on charges of smuggling and stockpiling illegal weapons, the attorney general's office said Sunday. The Americans, arrested in the central state of San Luis Potosi on Sept. 29, were identified as Robert James Bryce and Paula Sue Keller and are accused of entering Mexico with false documents. Authorities didn't give their hometowns. The attorney general's office said Bryce... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Mexico, U.S. Get Word Out on Gun Laws
San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
26 October 1998
LAREDO -- Motorists are being warned from both sides of the border here about a law that has landed a steady stream of U.S. citizens in Mexican prisons for driving into that country with guns or ammunition in their vehicles. This city and neighboring Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, have joined forces to explain the law to travelers and call international attention to its impact. Ranchers in Mexico are joining the effort, trying to... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Mexico Takes Aim at Illegal Guns from U.S.
Los Angeles Times
6 September 1998
MEXICO CITY -- Next time you pop across the Mexican border for a visit, remember to leave your AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle at home. This year, 123 U.S. citizens have been arrested in Mexico on weapons charges, according to the U.S. Embassy here, and about 70 Americans -- including an Orange County man -- are now being held, accused or convicted of violating the country's strict Firearms and Explosives Act. In some... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico, United States
Mexicans Set to Ease Gun Laws
San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
12 August 1998
MEXICO CITY -- The Chamber of Deputies is poised to relax strict laws on the importation of firearms that could mean the early release of scores of Americans now held in Mexico prisons on gun charges. The proposal, part of a wide-ranging package of reforms to Mexico's federal firearms law proposed by President Ernesto Zedillo, already has passed the Mexican Senate, and congressional sources say it stands a good chance in the lower... ( gunpolicy.org )
Mexico
Mexico Gun Law Nabs U.S. Citizens Off Guard
San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
19 July 1998
MATAMOROS, Mexico -- In prisons across Mexico, more than 80 U.S. citizens are doing time for a crime that in Texas, and much of the United States, is all but a God-given right: carrying a gun or possessing ammunition. Both are illegal in Mexico, where gun-control laws are strict and unforgiving, even if the weapon or bullets were unintentionally taken across the border. The case of Neil Johnson, a top manager for a San... ( gunpolicy.org )
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