Gun Policy News
Firearm violence, gun control and small arms
Mexico,El Salvador,Honduras,Venezuela,Brazil,Colombia
Colombia Capital Tries Trial Ban on Guns in Public
2 February 2012
New York Times / AP
BOGOTA, Colombia — Gustavo Petro was imprisoned as a rebel in the 1980s on a weapons conviction. As Bogota's new mayor, he wants to get firearms off the streets of this city where the conspicuous display of guns has long been the norm.
So he's trying an experimental ban on gun-wielding in public.
The only people authorized to carry weapons during the 90-day trial that began Wednesday are active and retired police and soldiers, bodyguards of diplomats, politicians,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times / AP
35792
United States,Mexico
Mexico Gangs Prefer Guns from the 80s-90s as They Are Harder to Trace
31 January 2012
InSight Crime (Bogota)
According to Mexico's Defense Department, criminal organizations are equipping themselves with firearms that are between 20 and 30 years old. The government says this casts doubt on the claim that the gangs are better armed than the security forces.
The Mexican Army seized over 130,000 firearms since 2006, the majority of which were fabricated in the 1980s and 1990s, Excelsior reports. These include makeshift weapons that were modified or repaired using old parts from... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35789
United States,Mexico
US Suggested Mexico Allow Illegal Guns to Cross Border to Cartels
28 January 2012
Washington Post / AP
WASHINGTON — Newly released Justice Department emails sent to Capitol Hill for a congressional inquiry into a gun-smuggling operation indicate that the head of the department's criminal division suggested letting some illicit "straw" weapons buyers in the U.S. transport their guns across the border into Mexico where they could be arrested.
According to the emails turned over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Friday night, the Justice official,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post / AP
35780
United States,Mexico
Normally Law-Abiding Mexicans Take Up Illegal Guns for Protection
28 January 2012
National Public Radio (USA)
In Mexico, where criminals are armed to the teeth with high-powered weapons smuggled from the United States, it may come as a surprise that the country has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world.
Law-abiding Mexicans who want a gun to defend themselves have no good options. Either they fight government red tape to get a legal permit, or they buy one on the black market.
After an outbreak of violence, one embattled community in northern Mexico called... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: National Public Radio (USA)
35773
Madagascar,Guinea,Ghana,Botswana,Angola,Algeria,South Africa,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa,Russia,Austria,Israel,Germany,Italy,United States,Yemen,Philippines,Pakistan,Sri Lanka,Tunisia,Brazil,Burkina Faso,Egypt,Côte d'Ivoire,Malawi,Mauritania,Morocco,Namibia,Niger,Nigeria,Congo (ROC),Senegal,Tanzania,Uganda,Zambia,Zimbabwe,Argentina,Ecuador,Chile,Honduras,Guatemala,United Arab Emirates,Trinidad & Tobago,Jordan,Dominican Republic,Singapore,Kazakhstan,Liberia,Saudi Arabia,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Congo (DRC),Guyana,Mauritius,Latvia,Oman,Nepal,Somalia,Bolivia,Colombia,Venezuela,Peru,Mexico,Qatar,Kuwait,Indonesia,Malaysia,Thailand
Brazilian Gun Industry Seeks New Markets: Africa and Asia [Portugues]
27 January 2012
Publica (Brazil)
[Translated summary: With the support of the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, Brazilian gun manufacturers seek new markets in countries with a history of human rights violations: Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines and Yemen. Brazil is among the six countries in the world with annual exports exceeding $ 100 million, according to recent research from Small Arms Survey. According to the Army, responsible for supervising and controlling exports from 2005 to... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Publica (Brazil)
35794
Mexico,United States
In Wake of Botched Gun Trafficking Probe, US Reveals New Sting Rules
27 January 2012
Chicago Tribune / Reuters
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Friday revealed new reforms undertaken to improve how it conducts undercover gun trafficking investigations in the wake of a botched operation in which scores of weapons disappeared.
The reforms require additional oversight of undercover operations, including those that involve more than 50 firearms, and, in most cases, ends the practice of paying gun dealers to serve as confidential informants.
Additionally, a new review... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Chicago Tribune / Reuters
35775
Mexico,United States
US Gun Dealers on Mexico Border Must Report Multiple Sales
18 January 2012
InSight Crime (Bogota)
A ruling by a US judge on tracking the sale of high-powered firearms in states on the southern border is a step forward for authorities trying to legislate against the flow of guns into Mexico.
Federal Judge Rosemary Collyer upheld an order made last year by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The ATF asked more than 8,000 gun dealers in Arizona, Texas, California and New Mexico to report sales of multiple semi-automatic rifles to one... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35743
Mexico
More Than 6 Million Firearms Illegally Circulating in Mexico [Espanol]
20 December 2011
El Occidental (Guadalajara)
[Translated summary: More than six million firearms are illegally circulating in Mexico. Rep. Salvador Caro suggests a three months period to register these, then punish illegal carrying of a firearm with five years in prison and no right to bail.]
Más de seis millones de armas de fuego circulan por México de manera ilegal, sin licencia, y es por ello que el diputado federal Salvador Caro propone se dé un plazo de tres meses para registrar una parte de éstas, para... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: El Occidental (Guadalajara)
35680
Europe,Americas,El Salvador
El Salvador Destroyed 3,817 Guns in 2011, 36,000 Since 2000 [Espanol]
13 December 2011
Info Defensa (El Salvador), Media release
[Translated summary: El Salvador Ministry of Defence destroyed 3,817 firearms in 2011. Amongst these, 2,782 handguns, 856 rifles and 179 hand-made artifacts. Since 2000, 36,000 firearms were destroyed in El Salvador.]
SAN SALVADOR – El Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional de El Salvador destruyó la semana pasada más de 3.000 armas irregulares que fueron decomisadas en diferentes acciones policiales durante el año 2011. Según informó Defensa, a través de un... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Info Defensa (El Salvador)
35657
Jamaica,Honduras,Israel,Canada,Norway,Australia,Colombia,El Salvador,United States,Venezuela,Pakistan,Mexico
Armed Societies, Another Tragedy for Women: Mexico, Pakistan, Venezuela
9 December 2011
Inter Press Service News Agency
CARACAS - Kairobis Arcia, 25, died from a bullet to her head shot by her husband, Oswaldo Mendoza, 32, who said he was blinded by jealousy in an argument fuelled by alcohol and drugs.
Her murder was just one of the more than 468,000 homicides a year that occur worldwide, 42 percent of which are committed with firearms. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the global murder rate is 6.9 per 100,000 people – 11.9 per 100,000 among men and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Inter Press Service News Agency
35654
Guatemala,Mexico,United States
Texas Gun Shop Sold 'Infantry Squad' Weapons to Mexican Cartel Smugglers
8 December 2011
Guardian (UK)
It was nothing more than a routine inspection for federal agents. But as they browsed the records of Carter's Country gun shop in Houston, investigators picked up on a series of big sales. For cash.
Federal agents were alerted not only by the number of guns involved – sometimes a dozen at a time – but the type. Time and again buyers walked out of Carter's Country clutching assault rifles, semi-automatic pistols with armour-piercing bullets and powerful sniper... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
35645
Guatemala
San Benito, Guatemala: 131 Gun Homicides per 100,000 Inhabitants in 2010
7 December 2011
InSight Crime (Bogota)
A disturbing new report by elPeriodico shows how the Internet is being used to target alleged criminals in Guatemala. As with Anonymous' threats to "out" Zetas in Mexico, the case illustrates how cyber justice can get ugly fast.
The investigation says that four websites have identified 39 alleged members of street gangs or other criminal groups in San Benito, a municipality in Peten, Guatemala's most violent state, over the past three years. At least 10 of these were... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35643
Mexico,United States
US Quietly Approves Massive Escalation in Number of Guns Sold to Mexico
6 December 2011
CBS News (USA)
Selling weapons to Mexico - where cartel violence is out of control - is controversial because so many guns fall into the wrong hands due to incompetence and corruption. The Mexican military recently reported nearly 9,000 police weapons "missing."
Yet the U.S. has approved the sale of more guns to Mexico in recent years than ever before through a program called "direct commercial sales." It's a program that some say is worse than the highly-criticized "Fast and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: CBS News (USA)
35637
Turkey,Nicaragua,Mexico
Mexico Makes Biggest-Ever Seizure of Smuggled Guns, Source Unknown
29 November 2011
InSight Crime (Bogota)
Federal authorities confiscated 911 guns from a container ship in the port of Lazaro Cardenas, on Mexico's Pacific, which was headed to Nicaragua.
The guns were found on board a cargo ship en route to Nicaragua, during a planned stop at the Michoacan port of Lazaro Cardenas. The ship is believed to be of Turkish origin, but no information was provided on the origin or destination of the weapons.
The operation was carried out by Mexico's Navy, working with the Federal... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35607
Venezuela,Peru,Ecuador,Chile,Bolivia,Paraguay,Brazil,Argentina,Mexico,Colombia,Uruguay,United States,North America,South America,Central America,Caribbean
Latin American Governments Target Gun Runners, Countries Making Guns
28 November 2011
United Press International
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Latin America's increasingly ambitious Mercosur regional bloc is aiming to focus on small arms suppliers who are seen as being behind the region's endemic and seemingly insurmountable problem of violent crime.
The area's disparate armed groups, guerrillas with political agenda and drug-related gangs have drawn attention from Mercosur's watchdog committees as senior officials explore ways of containing organized crime, rooting out myriad networks... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: United Press International
35594
South America,Central America,Caribbean,Guatemala
Guatemala Commits to Gun Marking in Cooperation Agreement [Espanol]
28 November 2011
EFE News Agency
[Translated Summary: A cooperation agreement with the Organization of American States (OAS) commits Guatemala to mark firearms in order to help prevent illegal gun trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the first year of the agreement, the General Directorate for Firearms and Munitions Control (DIGECAM) is required to register about 1,500 guns a month.]
Guatemala - Guatemala publicó hoy un acuerdo de cooperación con la Organización de Estados Americanos... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: EFE News Agency
35593
Central America,United States,Mexico,Guatemala
Guatemala and the Black Market for US Weapons
25 November 2011
InSight Crime (Bogota)
The trafficking of weapons over the U.S.-Mexico border is well-documented -- lesser known but also significant is the sale of U.S. weapons to Guatemalan government contractors, which are then siphoned off to criminal groups.
The Mexican government has focused much of its efforts to stop arms trafficking on the smuggling of weapons over the U.S. border. This strategy ignores other sources of weapons, and other entry points. Central America, for example, represents a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35588
El Salvador
El Salvador Police Count 128,000 Gun Registrations Lapsed, Now Illegal
25 November 2011
InSight Crime (Bogota)
Over 128,000 firearms without a government permit are currently circulating in El Salvador, according to the national police.
The police said that a total of 220,493 firearms have been officially registered in El Salvador since 1994. However, permits for more than half of these weapons have now expired. "This means that citizens have now lost the right to carry them legally," Augusto Cotto said.
Under the rules set by the Ministry of Defense, an authorization permit... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35584
Guatemala,United States,Mexico,Costa Rica,South America,Caribbean,Central America
Gun Trade Drives Soaring Latin American Homicide Rates, say Experts
24 November 2011
AFP
SAN JOSE — Illegal weapons trafficking has turned Latin America into a region of bloodletting in which over 40 percent of the world's homicides take place, experts warned Wednesday.
"Forty-two percent of homicides with a firearm that happen worldwide take place in Latin America, though only 10 percent of the world's population lives here," said Nobel laureate and former president Oscar Arias, citing UN data, at a conference of experts.
Although weapons such as... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: AFP
35583
Mexico,United States
Texas Border Town a Hotspot for US-Mexico Ammunition Smugglers
22 November 2011
KVUE.com (Texas)
EAGLE PASS, Texas – The small border town Eagle Pass has become a big corridor for ammunition smugglers who supply violent drug cartels.
In November, there was a large spike in smuggling activity.
"Just this month alone there have been three separate seizures totaling 700 magazines for AK-47 rifles," said Randy Clark, Patrol Agent in Charge for the U.S. Border Patrol station in Eagle Pass.
On Nov. 3, Border Patrol agents seized three black duffle bags near the Rio... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: KVUE.com (Texas)
35573
South America,Guatemala,El Salvador,Central America,United States,Mexico
Black Market Gun Runners Develop New Central American Routes - Report
21 November 2011
InSight Crime (Bogota)
Because the recent spike in drug-related violence in Mexico has coincided with the 2004 expiration of the U.S. assault weapons ban, and because a significant portion of the weapons used in Mexican crimes have been traced to U.S. vendors, Mexican officials often accuse liberal U.S. gun laws of being a major obstacle to a safer Mexico. Indeed, President Felipe Calderon made precisely this point during a speech to U.S. Congress in 2010.
U.S. officials have not denied that... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35568
El Salvador
El Salvador Government Seizes an Average of 12 Guns per Day in 2011
18 November 2011
InSight Crime (Bogota)
El Salvador's government has seized an average of 12 weapons per day so far in 2011, according to officials.
According to a report in La Prensa, Deputy Director of Public Safety Hugo Ramirez Mejia said that between January 1 and November 15 this year, the Firearms and Explosives Division (DAE) of the country's police force seized a total of 3,915 firearms.
Ramirez Mejia said this was a similar figure to those seized in the same period last year.
Since January 2010,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35554
United States,South America,Central America,Caribbean,Trinidad & Tobago
US Gives Marking Machine to Trinidad Police, 300 Guns Marked per Month
17 November 2011
Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday
The Police Service will use a new firearms laser marking machine to mark an average of 300 firearms per month over the course of next year.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar made this statement at a brief ceremony to receive one of those machines at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain yesterday. The machine was donated to the police by the United States (US) government through the Organisation of American States.
Persad-Bissessar said on July 27, Government entered... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday
35552
Guatemala,United States,Mexico,Central America
Arms Trafficking, Business of Death: Guns in Central America [Espanol]
16 November 2011
Contralinea (Mexico)
[Translated Summary: Contralinea magazine details the routes by which guns are trafficked into Mexico, including the flow of arms from the US directly to Guatemala, and then over Mexico's southern border. English translation at: http://bit.ly/uBnEGu]
En la última década, México pasó del lugar vigesimosegundo al quinto en tráfico de armas en el ámbito mundial. Se calcula que cada día ingresan al país unas 2 mil para abastecer a los cárteles de la droga, la... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Contralinea (Mexico)
35574
Guatemala,El Salvador,Mexico,United States,Honduras,South America,Central America,Caribbean
Latin American Leaders Demand International Action on Arms Trafficking
11 November 2011
InSight Crime (Bogota)
The 2011 Ibero-American Summit, held in Asuncion, Paraguay in October, was criticized for its failures, but leaders used the platform to call attention to the global arms trade and demand international cooperation on more effective measures to fight weapons trafficking and organized crime.
At the close of the summit, the member countries issued a separate and special declaration (available in pdf format here) defining public security as a precondition for economic and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35537
Honduras
3,000 Weapons Bought in Gun Buyback 'Disappear' from Honduran Police
10 November 2011
InSight Crime (Bogota)
El Heraldo newspaper is questioning the Honduran authorities about the disappearance of thousands of guns from government warehouses, amid fears they may have ended up on the black market.
El Heraldo is investigating the whereabouts of approximately 3,000 guns collected during President Maduro's administration, between the years 2002 and 2006. Maduro implemented a temporary gun buyback program, in which weapons could be surrendered to police in exchange for 1,000... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSight Crime (Bogota)
35539
Libya,Mexico,Germany
Assault Weapon Bribery Probe: Gun Maker Heckler & Koch Raided Again
10 November 2011
Associated Press
BERLIN — Some 300 police officers searched the headquarters of Heckler & Koch Thursday amid allegations the German arms maker bribed Mexican officials to boost its sales, prosecutors said.
The firm is under investigation on suspicion that it "bribed officials in Mexico using cash payments for several years" in connection with arms deliveries between 2005 and 2010, Stuttgart prosecution spokeswoman Claudia Krauth said.
A spokeswoman for Heckler & Koch GmbH confirmed... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35530
Mexico,United States
Obama's A-G Blames Congress for 'Losing Battle' in US-Mexico Gun Running
8 November 2011
Guardian (UK)
The Obama administration has warned that the US is "losing the battle" to stem the flow of weapons from American guns shops to Mexican drug cartels responsible for tens of thousands of killings.
The US attorney general, Eric Holder, told a Senate hearing that Congress is in part to blame because of its hostility to gun control, even going so far as to try and block federal law enforcement agencies from requiring gun shops to report multiple sales of automatic... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
35522
Mexico,United States
Attorney General Urges US Lawmakers to Slow US-Mexico Gun Running
8 November 2011
New York Times
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Tuesday sought to move past the political furor over Operation Fast and Furious, the disputed Arizona gun trafficking investigation, to the wider problem of the flow of American firearms to Mexican drug cartels — and what he portrayed as roadblocks members of Congress have thrown up to stemming that flow.
In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Holder criticized a recent vote by the House of... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
35516
Mexico,Congo (DRC),Sudan,Central African Republic,Sri Lanka,Colombia,Jamaica,Iraq,El Salvador,Central Africa,Caribbean,Central America,South America
Study Finds Again That Crime, Not War is Main Source of Gun Violence
29 October 2011
Associated Press
GENEVA — More people are killed by armed violence resulting from crime than are killed in war, with Latin America and a swath of countries through the middle of Africa among the hardest hit, an international study claimed Thursday.
About 526,000 people die violently every year — or more than 1,400 people every day — according to the 2011 Global Burden of Armed Violence report.
Only about 55,000 of those killed die in warfare, while an estimated 396,000 people... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35488
Mexico,United States
US Defends Gun Sale Reporting Requirement in Court
26 October 2011
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Gun store owners in southwestern border states argued in federal court Tuesday that the Obama administration cannot require them to report when customers buy multiple high-powered rifles.
The Justice Department responded to a lawsuit seeking to block the two-month-old requirement by asking a judge to uphold its legality, arguing the measure could help stop the flow of guns to Mexican drug cartels. It requires sellers in California, Arizona, New Mexico... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35475
Guatemala,El Salvador,Caribbean,South America,Central America,Mexico,United States
Authorities Discussed California's Role as a Pipeline for Illegal Guns to Mexico
25 October 2011
Southern California Public Radio (USA)
State and local officials were joined by Mexican law enforcement in Los Angeles Tuesday to discuss California's role as a pipeline for illegal weapons to Mexican drug cartels.
Authorities say California actually ranks much lower than other border states in gun trafficking. But the state's highways are often used to transport the weapons.
State Senator Kevin De Leon chairs the Senate Select Committee on Immigration and the Economy. The L.A. Democrat says federal... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Southern California Public Radio (USA)
35462
Mexico,United States
Second Bush Administration Gun-Trafficking Investigation
15 October 2011
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A second Bush administration gun-trafficking investigation has surfaced using the same controversial tactic for which congressional Republicans have been criticizing the Obama administration.
The tactic, called "gun walking," is already under investigation by the Justice Department's inspector general and by congressional Republicans, who have criticized the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama for letting it happen in an operation called... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35418
Belize
Small Arms and High Powered Rifles Stolen from Belize Defence Force
13 October 2011
Guardian (Belize)
The Ministry of Defense called a press conference at Price Barracks on Wednesday evening to inform the media that there was a security breach at the Price Barracks compound and a number of small arms and high powered rifles were stolen.
Allen Whylie, Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Defense, said it is a devastating breach and the Ministry will leave no stones unturned to get to the bottom of the heist. The discovery was made at about 10:20 a.m. on Wednesday,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (Belize)
35409
Mexico
Mexico: No Licence to Carry Guns if History of Domestic Violence [Espanol]
11 October 2011
Periodico Digital (Mexico)
[Translated summary: The National Defence Commission of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies approved a ruling that establishes new requirements for those applying for a licence to carry firearms, including no criminal record for willful or negligent use of firearms and no history of domestic violence.]
La Comisión de Defensa Nacional estableció nuevas obligaciones para este trámite
La Comisión de Defensa Nacional de la Cámara de Diputados federal aprobó el dictamen... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Periodico Digital (Mexico)
35395
Caribbean,South America,Central America,Trinidad & Tobago
Increase in Trinidad Gun Crimes the Result of Drug-Trafficking, Gangs
11 October 2011
Guardian (Trinidad and Tobago)
National Security Minister Brigadier John Sandy says an increase in gun-related crimes is the result of drug-trafficking and gang violence over the past ten years in T&T. He said because of the country's geographical location T&T faced the direct effects of the illicit drug-trafficking and illegal firearms trades.
"We know full well that firearms remain a major threat to this country. These firearms fuel drug-trafficking and gang violence and other criminal activity."... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (Trinidad and Tobago)
35394
Mexico,United States
Smuggled US Ammunition Feeds Mexico's Ongoing Drug Gun Wars
9 October 2011
USA Today
PHOENIX - Every year, thousands of guns are smuggled into Mexico from the United States, fueling the brutal drug-cartel wars and stirring outrage on both sides of the border.
But often overlooked in the controversy are the tons of bullets that also make their way south of the border.
In Mexico, ammunition is strictly regulated and possession of even a single illegal round can lead to prison. But there is nonetheless a steady supply of bullets. Almost all of it comes... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: USA Today
35386
Central America,Guatemala
Of 2,496 Murders in Guatemala, 86% Were Shootings [Espanol]
6 October 2011
EFE News Agency
[Translated summary: 2,496 murders, including 360 of women, were committed in Guatemala during the first nine months of 2011, says an NGO that monitors human rights. Firearms were used in 85,66% of the crimes committed between January and September 2011.]
Guatemala - Unos 2.496 asesinatos, 360 de ellos de mujeres, fueron perpetrados en Guatemala durante los primeros nueve meses de 2011, denunció hoy el Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo (GAM), una organización no gubernamental... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: EFE News Agency
35380
Southern Africa,Central Africa,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Africa,South America,Central America,Caribbean
Men Most Affected by Homicide, 40-60% Involve Guns, Says UN [Francais]
5 October 2011
Le Parisien (France) / AFP
[Translated summary: According to a new report on homicide from UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), most of the 468,000 homicides in 2010 took place in Africa and in Latin America. Firearms were involved in 42%. In Central America and the Caribbean, firearms were involved in three quarters of the homicides.]
La plupart des 468.000 homicides commis dans le monde en 2010 ont eu lieu en Afrique et en Amérique latine et concernent surtout des hommes, a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Le Parisien (France) / AFP
35377
Colombia,Venezuela,Guatemala,Mexico,El Salvador,Honduras,South America,Central America,Caribbean
Epidemic of Gun Violence in Latin America - United Nations Data
4 October 2011
UN Dispatch (new York)
As the drug trade — and the organized crime it spawns — spread through Latin America, the region is facing an epidemic of gun violence, according to new U.N. data. Speaking at a conference on the subject in Lima, Peru, Camilo Duplat of the Regional Center for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean announced that some 740,000 Latin Americans are dying annually in gun violence, and 500,000 of those deaths are linked to organized crime.... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: UN Dispatch (new York)
35352
Peru,Mexico,Venezuela,Colombia,Central America,El Salvador,Honduras,Caribbean,South America
80 Million Firearms in Latin America and the Caribbean [Espanol]
29 September 2011
Andina (Lima)
[Translated summary: There are 80 million firearms in Latin America and the Caribbean, the majority of them in the hands of civilians. In Honduras and El Salvador, there are respectively 77 and 62 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Central America has the world's highest homicide rate.]
LIMA - Alrededor de 80 millones de armas de fuego existen en América Latina y el Caribe, la mayor parte en poder de civiles, lo que acrecienta el problema de la violencia en el... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Andina (Lima)
35345
Costa Rica
Arming Yourself for Self-defence, the Trend in Costa Rica [Espanol]
25 September 2011
Veracruzanos (Costa Rica)
[Translated summary: The trend in Costa Rica seems to be to own firearms for self-defence. According to a recent survey, 60.3% of respondents answered 'yes' to the question 'Do you support the death penalty?'].
La mayoría de participantes en una encuesta telefónica llevada a cabo el pasado miércoles por un canal de la televisión local, en uno de sus espacios informativos, expresó su apoyo a la ejecución de los delincuentes, un castigo abolido hace más de un... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Veracruzanos (Costa Rica)
35326
Venezuela,South America,Colombia,Mexico
Venezuela Tries to Stem Violence and Easy Availability of Guns
22 September 2011
InSightCrime.org (Latin America and Caribbean)
Venezuela is altering its gun policy in an effort to stem the alarming level of street violence, but the entrenched nature of gun possession in the country will prove difficult to remedy in the short term.
On June 6, Venezuelan Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami announced the establishment of a commission which is charged with tightening the regulation of arms in the country. Since its creation, the body has enacted a number of reforms, including banning the possession... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: InSightCrime.org (Latin America and Caribbean)
35321
United States,Mexico
US Customs Seized 30 Assault Rifles Bound for Mexico
22 September 2011
Reuters
AUSTIN, Texas - U.S. customs agents in Texas seized 30 high-powered assault rifles when they searched a car heading into Mexico in what they said was the largest gun seizure at the state's border this year.
Agents at the Del Rio port of entry found the stash of Kalashnikov and M-4 type rifles in the trunk of a Nissan Altima headed into Mexico on Wednesday, and arrested the 18-year-old driver from Eagle Pass, the Customs and Border Protection agency said in a news... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
35320
Honduras
Rise in Honduras Gun Purchases Explained by Rising Insecurity [Espanol]
21 September 2011
Prensa Latina (Havana)
[Translated summary: According to the General Directorate for Armaments of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), 3,175 firearms were registered so far in Honduras in 2011. This is more than last year, when 3,505 firearms were registered in all of 2010.]
TEGUCIGALPA - Un auge en la venta de armas de fuego se percibe en Honduras, supuestamente motivado por la ola de inseguridad que vive el país, según registros divulgados hoy por fuentes oficiales.
De acuerdo con la... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Prensa Latina (Havana)
35328
Mexico,United States
Mexico Still Waiting for Answers on US Gun-running Programme
19 September 2011
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Mexico City and Washington— Last fall's slaying of Mario Gonzalez, the brother of a Mexican state prosecutor, shocked people on both sides of the border. Sensational news reports revealed that cartel hit men had tortured Gonzalez, and forced him to make a videotaped "confession" that his high-powered sister was on the take.
But American authorities concealed one disturbing fact about the case from their Mexican counterparts: U.S. federal agents had... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
35303
Europe,United States,El Salvador,Honduras,Mexico,Venezuela
In Crime-Ridden Venezuela, Even Hospitals Are No Longer Safe
11 September 2011
San Francisco Chronicle / AP
CARACAS, Venezuela - A young man dies of gunshot wounds, and enraged friends and relatives react by shooting up the hospital. A medical student leaving another hospital at the end of her shift is shot to death by a robber. Doctors working late take to sleeping in their workplace rather than risk being mugged.
In crime-ridden Venezuela, even hospitals are no longer safe.
No one was injured in the Aug. 20 shooting rampage at the Domingo Luciani Hospital in Caracas, but... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: San Francisco Chronicle / AP
35262
Mexico,United States
Mexico Arrests US Man Accused of Smuggling Arm Parts for Cartels
6 September 2011
Washington Post / AP
PHOENIX — Police have arrested an American man who allegedly smuggled parts for as many as 2,000 grenades into Mexico for drug cartels, more than a year after he was released by U.S. agents who stopped him at the Arizona-Mexico border for having more than a hundred grenade parts.
While a Department of Justice official said the case will be added to the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious, a flawed effort by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post / AP
35250
Mexico,United States
American in Mexican Custody Suspected of Gun Trafficking for Cartels
6 September 2011
CNN
Mexican authorities have an American citizen in custody who they say is suspected of trafficking firearms and grenades to a major Mexican drug cartel.
According to Mexico's attorney general's office, Jean Baptiste Kingery Moinssonm was allegedly smuggling firearm and grenade parts into the country. Once the goods were in Mexican territory, Moinssonm allegedly assembled and sold the weapons to the Sinaloa cartel.
Mexican federal police took Moinssonm into custody in... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: CNN
35248
Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Thieves After Guns of Security Guards to Commit Crimes
2 September 2011
Inside Costa Rica
Private security guards in Costa Rica are the new target of thieves looking to steal their guns to commit robberies. Carrying a firearm does not exempt a person from becoming a victim.
Statistics that this year there have already been one too many cases of a death of a person victim of having their firearm stolen.
One such case occurred in Tibás (north side of San José) a few months agon when a Tránsito (traffic) official was shot dead during the robbery of his... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Inside Costa Rica
35243
Mexico,United States
America's Refusal to Curb Gun Traffic to Mexican Cartels the 'Real Scandal'
1 September 2011
Washington Post, Editorial
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced Tuesday that Kenneth E. Melson, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), would step down from his post. Also announced was that U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke of Arizona would resign.
In Washington parlance, both men had become "distractions" because of their roles in the now-discredited "Operation Fast and Furious." The Phoenix-based effort was intended to slow the illegal flow of... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post
35232
Mexico,United States
Feds' US-Mexico Gun Trafficking Scandal Costs Top Officials Their Jobs
31 August 2011
New York Times
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Tuesday replaced two top Justice Department officials associated with an ill-fated investigation into a gun-trafficking network in Arizona that has been at the center of a political conflagration.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced the resignation of the United States attorney in Phoenix, Dennis K. Burke, and the reassignment of the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Kenneth... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
35229
Colombia,United States,Mexico,Central America,Iraq,El Salvador,Guatemala,Honduras
Honduras Standing As the Epicenter of Central America's Arms Trade
13 August 2011
Honduras Weekly / InSight Crime
A recent report released by the National Commissioner for Human Rights (Conadeh), in Honduras indicates that there are more than 850,000 weapons in circulation in the country. Only 258,000 weapons, however, are officially registered. It is therefore hardly surprising, in a country with hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons, that as many as 80 percent of homicides are firearm related.
Traditionally, Hondurans have taken a rather liberal approach to gun ownership,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Honduras Weekly / InSight Crime
35190
Mexico,United States
US Gun Lobby Tries to Kill New Law on Reporting of Multiple Gun Sales
9 August 2011
USA Today, Editorial
Martin Johnson had a nice little business going in 2008 and 2009. He'd leave home in California and buy dozens of guns in Arizona, where the gun laws are much looser, using an Arizona driver's license to pretend that he still lived there. Back in California, Johnson sold the guns to his neighbor, a convicted felon who couldn't legally buy guns at all. The neighbor sold some of the guns to his buddies, none of whom was a legal buyer, either.
NRA: Gun form won't deter... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: USA Today
35170
Guatemala,El Salvador,Central America,Mexico,United States
US Gun Lobby, Congress Hamper, Slow Work of Feds' Gun Tracing Centre
5 August 2011
Houston Chronicle (Texas)
MARTINSBURG, West Virginia — No signs mark the outside of the hidden 1960s-vintage government facility in the bucolic countryside of West Virginia's panhandle.
Even the parking lot is obscured by black tarps lining a cyclone fence.
But just inside the warehouse-like brick building is the National Tracing Center, the epicenter of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' effort to combat and control illegal gun use.
When police need to trace a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Houston Chronicle (Texas)
35166
Mexico,Canada,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa,United States
US Gun Lobby, Arms Makers Raise Alarm Over UN Global Gun Trade Process
5 August 2011
Fox News (USA)
A controversial U.N. proposed treaty aimed at regulating guns worldwide has been shrouded by confusion and misinformation.
Known informally as the 'Small Arms Treaty,' its detractors have charged the proposed agreement with secretly trying to take guns out of the hands of Americans and circumventing the 2nd Amendment.
While that is unlikely, a working draft proposal obtained by FoxNews.com contains language that some gun advocates say could have a real impact on... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Fox News (USA)
35164
South Africa,Brazil,Argentina,Australia,Mexico,United States,Canada,Africa,Sweden,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas
Canada Gun Lobby Influence on Foreign Policy: Arms Trade Treaty
3 August 2011
Embassy Magazine (Canada), Opinion
Canada has never been a strong supporter of international efforts to negotiate an effective Arms Trade Treaty. But in mid-July, it reversed its previous low-key but constructive role at the United Nations ATT preparatory meetings to become a potential treaty spoiler. All indications point to this change of heart arising from the domestic gun lobby's influence on Canadian foreign policy.
After years of preparation, member states of the United Nations will devote a month... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Embassy Magazine (Canada)
35160
Mexico,United States
US Gun Lobby Fights Mexico Border Semi-automatic Rifle Sale Control
3 August 2011
New York Times / Reuters
WASHINGTON - The U.S. gun industry on Wednesday sued to block requirements that weapons dealers along the border with Mexico report multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles, escalating the fight with the Obama administration.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) last month ordered more than 8,000 gun dealers in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California to report such sales to try to stem the "iron river" of guns flowing to violent Mexican drug... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times / Reuters
35158
United States,Norway,United Kingdom,Africa,Afghanistan,Mexico
Gun Trade Inevitably Leads to the Sort of Atrocity Inflicted on Norway
31 July 2011
Independent (UK), Opinion
In discussion of the atrocity in Norway last week, there is one subject which has been notable by the almost total silence about it: guns. In response to recurring massacres in American high schools and British villages, in response to footage from Africa and Afghanistan showing ragged, untrained young men brandishing automatic small arms, in response to a man coolly murdering dozens of youngsters in an hour-and-a-half, funfair-like shooting spree on a Norwegian island,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Independent (UK)
35146
Mexico,United States
For Mexicans, US Gun Industry Plays a Role in Mexico's Drug Violence
31 July 2011
McClatchy Newspapers (USA)
MEXICO CITY -- While a gunrunning sting known as Fast and Furious draws criticism in Congress for losing track of weapons that were smuggled into Mexico, Mexicans say the controversy confirms their conviction that the U.S. gun industry profits off of bloodshed south of the border.
As new details of the U.S. undercover operation emerged last week in congressional hearings in Washington, many Mexicans said the scandal demonstrates how easily crime gangs obtain large... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: McClatchy Newspapers (USA)
35145
Mexico,United States,Canada
Tracking Guns in Canada - With or Without the Federal Registry
30 July 2011
Montreal Gazette (Québec)
There are ways to track firearms with or without the federal long-gun registry, which is expected to be scrapped this fall:
TRACKING GUNS
Toronto Police Chief William Blair, the current president of Canadian Association of Police Chiefs, wrote federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews on May 19 with a few ideas:
--That the long-gun regis-try's existing data (firearms descriptions, serial numbers, owners' names and addresses) be transferred within the RCMP to the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Montreal Gazette (Québec)
35149
Mexico,United States
Inside the Controversial US-Mexico Gun Trafficking Investigation
30 July 2011
Associated Press
PHOENIX -- Ten days before Christmas, ATF agent John Dodson awoke, got his morning coffee, switched on the TV news – and heard the words he had dreaded every day of every month he had been a member of the gun-trafficking investigative team called the Group VII Strike Force.
A Border Patrol agent had been shot dead in a gun battle with suspected bandits. The agent was 40, only months older than Dodson himself, another ex-military man who chose to serve his country by... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35144
Mexico,United States
Feds Made 'Colossally Dumb Decision' Allowing US Guns to 'Walk' Into Mexico
28 July 2011
New York Times, Editorial
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — perennially hogtied by the gun lobby's power over Congress — made a colossally dumb decision when it concocted a sting operation that let 2,020 high-powered weapons slip across the border into Mexico.
The goal of Operation Fast and Furious, begun in 2009, was to tolerate suspicious large-scale purchases of assault weapons on the American side of the border in order to track the guns all the way up the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
35138
Mexico
Mexican Prison Massacre Using Assault Weapons Left 17 Dead, Including Girl
28 July 2011
Guardian (UK)
Two days of debauchery and horror inside the municipal jail in Mexico's Ciudad Juárez began with alcohol, drugs and sex with minors, and ended with the massacre of 17 people using high-powered firearms later successfully concealed from police.
Some of the violence was captured on a surveillance video released by the state-level authority investigating what happened. It shows two prisoners clearing a corridor of guards before unlocking a door to allow armed men to... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
35137
Mexico,United States
US Teen Gets 3yrs Jail for Gun Crime, Killing, Beheading 4 Men in Mexico
27 July 2011
Washington Post / AP
MIACATLAN, Mexico — A Mexican judge on Tuesday sentenced a teenage U.S. citizen to three years in prison for homicide, kidnapping and drug and weapons possession. Authorities say the teen confessed to killing four people whose beheaded bodies were found suspended from a bridge.
Edgar Jimenez Lugo, known as "El Ponchis," was given the maximum sentenced allowed for a minor in the central state of Morelos, said state prosecutor Jose Manuel Serrano Falmerol. Jimenez was... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post / AP
35119
Mexico,United States
Firearm Trafficking: The Embarrassing US-Mexico Operation [Francais]
26 July 2011
Radio Canada
[Translated summary: The investigation carried out into the US Operation against firearms trafficking between US and Mexico is embarrassing for Washington.]
La Chambre des représentants enquête sur une opération du gouvernement américain contre le trafic d'armes entre les États-Unis et le Mexique, qui est en train de plonger Washington dans l'embarras.
Lancée en 2009 par des agents du Bureau de l'alcool, du tabac et des armes à feu (ATF), à Phoenix,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Radio Canada
35120
Central America,Mexico,United States
ATF Data Defy Theory, Tie US Gun Flow To Mexican Cartels
23 July 2011
San Francisco Chronicle
Washington -- The claim that Mexican cartels rely on huge stocks of military surplus weaponry from civil wars in Central America is the mantra of pro-gun organizations fearful that linking drug violence to U.S.-purchased weapons could lead to more gun control.
Though gun-rights advocates and at least one prominent U.S. senator ferociously stand by that politically charged theory, federal firearms data show only a tiny percentage originate south of Mexico's... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: San Francisco Chronicle
35106
Costa Rica,Panama,El Salvador,Nicaragua,Colombia,Central America,United States,Mexico,Honduras,Guatemala
Most Guns Seized in Guatemala 'Come From Honduras' [Espanol]
19 July 2011
La Prensa (Honduras), Editorial
[Translated summary: Most guns seized in Guatemala come from Honduras, claims Public Ministry. Assault rifles, hand grenades, semi-automatic weapons, large caliber rifles as unconventional Barrett .50 caliber and AK-47, were part of the weaponry confiscated from the Zetas (dug cartel) operating in Central America.]
Fusiles de asalto, armas automáticas y granadas buscan los criminales mexicanos en países centroamericanos para continuar la guerra que libran con la... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: La Prensa (Honduras)
35085
Mexico,United States
ATF Chief Confirms Some Criticism of the Agency on US Guns Scandal
19 July 2011
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says that in at least one instance during a now-controversial gun-running investigation his agents did not intercept high-powered weapons when they could and should have.
Kenneth Melson's acknowledgement is the first by any senior ATF leader that confirms some of the criticism that Republicans on Capitol Hill have been leveling at Operation Fast and Furious. The concerns have resulted in... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35074
Mexico,United States
US Justice Dept. Trying to Shield Officials in Gun Trafficking Scandal
19 July 2011
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington— The Justice Department is trying to protect its political appointees from the Fast and Furious scandal by concealing an internal "smoking gun" report and other documents that acknowledge the role top officials played in the program that allowed firearms to flow illegally into Mexico, according to the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Kenneth E. Melson, the ATF's acting director, also told congressional... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
35073
United States,Central America,South America,Jamaica,Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands Police Raises Concern on Gun Crime and Smuggling
18 July 2011
Cayman Compass
More than a dozen North Siders attended the final community meeting on Tuesday, 12 July, hosted by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service on Grand Cayman before the panel left for the Sister Islands.
One of the most well-attended meetings in the series so far, the audience included North Side MLA Ezzard Miller and former MLA Edna Moyle.
Several issues touched on at previous district meetings - such as truancy and youth development - were discussed, but gun crime,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Cayman Compass
35075
Honduras
650,000 Illegal Guns Circulating in Honduras [Espanol]
17 July 2011
El Heraldo (Honduras), Editorial
[Translated summary: Honduras seems to be turning into a battlefield. Some 800,000 weapons are between being registered and not registered; 650,000 are circulating illegaly in the country; 19,640 gun deaths between 2005 and 2010. In its latest study, the National Commission for Human Rights urged the Legislative Power to reform the Firearms Act.]
En Honduras hay unas 800,000 armas entre registradas y no registradas.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Honduras entera pareciera... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: El Heraldo (Honduras)
35097
Mexico,United States
Obama Adm. Took Significant Step for Gun Control at Mexican Border
17 July 2011
Los Angeles Times, Editorial
The Obama administration took a concrete step toward curbing the flow of semiautomatic weapons to Mexico last week when it adopted a new regulation mandating the reporting of multiple sales of long guns to federal authorities.
Under the regulation, some 8,500 licensed gun shops in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas will be required to inform the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a customer buys more than one semiautomatic that is .22... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
35070
Mexico,United States
US-Mexico Gun Tracking Program Comes Under Congressional Fire
16 July 2011
Christian Science Monitor
ATLANTA - Busting a major gunrunning ring on the New Mexico frontier – and netting a mayor, a police chief and a town councilor in the process – would normally be a huge feather in the cap of embattled federal agencies under pressure to stop cross-border arms smuggling and corruption.
But instead, the resolution of the so-called Columbus 11 case in the historic border village of Columbus, N.M., has taken on a muted tone, primarily because of its potentially... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Christian Science Monitor
35067
Central America,El Salvador
260,000 Guns Registered in El Salvador, 3 Times More Are Illegal [Espanol]
15 July 2011
El Mundo (El Salvador)
[Translated summary: The representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reported that there are about 4.5 million firearms in Central America and 70% of these are illegal. In El Salvador alone, there are 260,000 registered firearms and about three times more illegal firearms. Seven out of ten homicides are committed with a firearm. Illegal firearms are directly linked to the high rate of crimes daily recorded.]
El alto índice de armas de fuego sin... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: El Mundo (El Salvador)
35126
Mexico,United States
Former Mayor of New Mexico Town Pleads Guilty to Gun Smuggling
14 July 2011
Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — The former mayor of a small New Mexico border town has pleaded guilty to charges he participated in a gun smuggling ring that federal prosecutors said sent hundreds of guns into Mexico, authorities said Wednesday.
Eddie Espinoza faces 65 years in prison. The 51-year-old was arrested in March along with two other Columbus town officials — police chief Angelo Vega and former trustee Blas Gutierrez. The three were among a dozen people charged... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35066
Mexico,United States
US Justice Department Effort to Contain Gun Running Scandal Crumbling
13 July 2011
Washington Post, Editorial
The Justice Department's effort to contain the Operation Fast and Furious gunrunning scandal is crumbling. Members of Congress are demanding full disclosure regarding the bizarre scheme to funnel guns to Mexican drug cartels, supposedly to help sniff out the higher-level bad guys. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. isn't helping congressional investigators understand the rationale behind this breathtakingly dumb idea.
The so-called Fast and Furious program fit right... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post
35056
Mexico,United States
Gun Mayhem Along Border, Obama Must Pursue Stronger Gun Control
13 July 2011
New York Times, Editorial
It is an open and deadly scandal that at least 70 percent of the weapons recovered in Mexico's bloody drug war originate in the United States, where shady gun buyers operate freely thanks to loopholes in American law. To its credit, the Obama administration has ordered the more than 8,000 dealers along the border to begin reporting multiple sales of AK-47s and other semiautomatic battlefield weapons to the federal firearms bureau.
Straw buyers have been easily... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
35055
United States,Mexico
New US Rule on Border Gun Sales is Drawing Both Praise and Criticism
12 July 2011
Fox News (USA)
The Justice Department's new policy on requiring all gun shops in four Southwest border states to report frequent buyers of semi-automatic weapons is drawing both praise and criticism.
Dennis Henigan, acting president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, is pleased with the new requirement.
"This new reporting rule will give law enforcement new capacity to interdict these deadly guns before they can be used against Mexican police and citizens."
But the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Fox News (USA)
35049
United States,Mexico
New Rules Announced Amid Criticism of Flawed US Gun-running Operation
12 July 2011
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In an effort to stem the illicit flow of weapons into Mexico, the Justice Department announced Monday that all gun shops in four Southwest border states will be required to alert the federal government to frequent buyers of high-powered rifles.
The new policy comes amid criticism of a flawed federal probe aimed at dismantling large-scale arms trafficking networks along the Arizona border with Mexico.
In the probe, called Operation Fast and Furious,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Associated Press
35042
Mexico,United States
New US Rules Require Dealers to Report Multiple Semi-auto Rifle Sales
11 July 2011
New York Times
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Monday approved a new regulation requiring firearms dealers along the Southwest border to report multiple sales of certain semiautomatic rifles, a rule intended to make it harder for Mexican drug cartels to obtain and smuggle weapons from the United States.
Under the rule, dealers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas will be required to inform the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives if someone buys —... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
35037
United States,Mexico
Head of US Federal Firearm Agency Admits Mexico Gun Sting Mistakes
7 July 2011
BBC News
The head of the US firearms agency has told Congress mistakes were made in a sting operation meant to track the illegal movement of guns to Mexico.
Under Operation Fast and Furious, US officials were told to allow hundreds of guns to be smuggled into Mexico.
The aim was to track them to major weapons traffickers, but some of the guns were later found at crime scenes.
Agency head Kenneth Melson said he was "sick to his stomach" on learning the full details of the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: BBC News
35025
Western Europe,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa,United States,China,India,Guatemala
Private Security Guards Now Outnumber Police Worldwide - New Survey
6 July 2011
Sunday Times (UK) / AFP
GENEVA - Private security companies employ up to 25.5 million people across the world, exceeding the number of police officers, and hold up to 3.7 million firearms, a survey said Wednesday.
"The global trend towards downsizing government, including public security institutions, has contributed to the growth of the private security sector," said the Geneva Graduate Institute's small arms survey.
"In prisons, at airports, along borders and on the street, security... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Sunday Times (UK) / AFP
35024
Mexico,United States
Head of US Federal Firearm Bureau Admits Mexico Gun Sting Mistakes
6 July 2011
Reuters
The acting head of the U.S. firearms agency admitted during secret talks at Congress that mistakes were made in a botched operation to track the illegal movement of guns to Mexico, lawmakers said on Wednesday.
The operation, dubbed "Fast and Furious," has put the Obama administration on the defensive, provoking questions about who knew what and when within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Justice Department, as well as questions about... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Reuters
35021
Mexico,United States
After Mexican Scandal, Should US Feds Firearm Bureau Continue to Exist?
4 July 2011
New York Times
WASHINGTON — The last time the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was caught up in scandal, its director faced accusations of lavish spending on his new office. Before he resigned, Congress, flexing its oversight muscles, decided the Senate would confirm all future A.T.F. chiefs.
That was five years ago. Nobody has been confirmed, and the nation has been without a chief firearms inspector ever since.
Today, the bureau is again under... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
35013
Mexico,United States
NRA Board Member Accuses UN 'Thugs, Despots' of Global Gun Grabbing
4 July 2011
Washington Times, Opinion
The despots, thugs, scoundrels, punks and various crooks at the United Nations have it all wrong again. Imagine that. Though the details have yet to be released, the U.N. wants to try to force strict small-arms control on the world under the pretense (lie) that such restrictions will make it tougher for terrorists and other assorted subhuman scum to get their hands on guns.
How is that working in Mexico, boys and girls?
If the U.N. had a clue or truly cared about... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Times
35012
Mexico,United States
NRA Board Member Accuses UN 'Thugs, Despots' of Global Gun Grabbing
4 July 2011
Washington Times, Opinion
The despots, thugs, scoundrels, punks and various crooks at the United Nations have it all wrong again. Imagine that. Though the details have yet to be released, the U.N. wants to try to force strict small-arms control on the world under the pretense (lie) that such restrictions will make it tougher for terrorists and other assorted subhuman scum to get their hands on guns.
How is that working in Mexico, boys and girls?
If the U.N. had a clue or truly cared about... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Times
35011
United States,Mexico
US Gun Law Needed to Combat Arms Trafficking to Mexico Drug Cartels
30 June 2011
Washington Post
The ranking Democrat on the House committee investigating the controversial federal gun-trafficking operation known as Fast and Furious accused its Republican chairman on Wednesday of stifling discussion of whether U.S. gun laws have contributed to the violence in Mexico.
A report released Wednesday by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) said weak laws impede federal firearms agents trying to counter gun trafficking by Mexican drug cartels. It criticizes Rep. Darrell Issa... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post
34998
United States,Mexico
Gun Lobby Cripples US Agency in Charge of Tracking Down Illegal Guns
27 June 2011
Washington Post, Editorial
The gun rights lobby has spent considerable time and energy in pursuit of one goal: crippling the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It has largely succeeded — and with dire consequences.
Concerned to the point of paranoia about the erosion of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, the National Rifle Association and far too many lawmakers have fought against virtually every proposal to empower the bureau to better track and crack down... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post
34988
United States,Mexico
US Gun Agency and Congress Responsible for Firearm Tracing Failure
27 June 2011
Los Angeles Times, Editorial
The agency failed in a border operation that let guns fall into criminals' hands. But Congress has failed to adopt sensible laws to prevent mass 'straw purchases' of arms destined for use in crimes.
A congressional subcommittee has spent much of the last month investigating how a border security operation code named "Fast and Furious" allowed hundreds of guns to fall into the hands of criminals on both sides of the Mexican border.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Los Angeles Times
34984
United States,Mexico
With Gun-running Scandal, Now's the Time to Target US Gun Control
24 June 2011
Guardian (UK)
When Republican chairman of the House oversight and government reform committee, Representative Darrel Issa, called for the resignation of ATF acting director Kenneth Melson, few in American political circles found it controversial. Melson, after all, was responsible for overseeing the ATF's botched gun-tracking operations that led to the trafficking of thousands of weapons into Mexico and countless consequent deaths – including that of US customs agent Brian... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Guardian (UK)
34982
Canada,United States,Mexico
US Gun-running Program Flaw Relies on Great Number of Mexican Deaths
22 June 2011
National Post (Toronto), Opinion
These are not halcyon days for the unique American combination of extreme drug prohibition and extreme firearms permissiveness. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is enduring its biggest scandal since Waco over an anti-drug operation very inappropriately titled "Fast and Furious." In a nutshell, ATF agents watched carefully as people in Arizona bought massive quantities of legal weapons (notably AK-47 assault rifles), knowing they'd be smuggled across the... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: National Post (Toronto)
34979
United States,Mexico
Did Ill Fated US Gun Running Sting Kill Mexicans, Damage War on Drugs?
21 June 2011
Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON -- Fast and Furious – not the movie franchise, but the US government's ill-fated undercover gun-running operation targeting Mexican drug cartels – ended up putting more guns in the hands of criminals on both sides of the US-Mexico border.
It deepened a rift between the US and Mexico over weapons flowing south, caused a major scandal in the Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which hatched the operation in 2009,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Christian Science Monitor
34967
United States,Mexico
Hypocrisy, Locked and Loaded: US Floods Mexico with Assault Weapons
20 June 2011
New York Times, Editorial
If Congressional Republicans are really intent on getting to the bottom of an ill-conceived sting operation along the border by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, they should call President Felipe Calderón of Mexico as an expert witness.
Mr. Calderón has the data showing that the tens of thousands of weapons seized from the Mexican drug cartels in the last four years mostly came from the United States. Three out of five of those guns were... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
34976
United States,Mexico
US-Mexico Gun Running Scandal: 'A Drug-War Plan Goes Awry'
20 June 2011
Wall Street Journal, Opinion
One of the frightening things about the U.S. government's war on drugs is that it is being waged by federal bureaucracies. The legend of Elliot Ness notwithstanding, this implies that it is not only fraught with ineptitude but that before it is all over, there are going to be a lot of avoidable deaths.
Witness "Operation Fast and Furious," a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms plan that allegedly facilitated the flow of high-powered weapons into Mexico in the hope... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Wall Street Journal
34961
Mexico
Freeing of Mexican Ex-mayor Could Allow Impunity in Illegal Gun Possession
16 June 2011
Washington Post / AP
MEXICO CITY — The dismissal of charges against a former Tijuana mayor allegedly caught with 88 guns at his home could set a worrisome example of allowing illegal weapons possession to go unpunished, Mexico's top organized crime prosecutor said Wednesday.
Assistant Attorney General Patricia Bugarin said the judge who freed gambling magnate and former mayor Jorge Hank Rhon acted with "bias and subjectivity" in dismissing the federal charges.
The ruling "could result... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Washington Post / AP
34969
Mexico,United States
Lethal Fallout from Botched US Sting: Gun Trafficking Scandal Exposed
16 June 2011
Independent (UK)
The lethal fallout from a botched operation by the US Department of Justice which allowed almost 2,000 illegally purchased firearms to be transported from the streets of Arizona to drug gangs in Mexico has been laid bare in a scathing Congressional report, which concludes that it resulted in countless deaths.
A mixture of arrogance, over-confidence, and staggering ineptitude by the Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives [ATF] was outlined in a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Independent (UK)
34947
Mexico,United States
Top Agency Officials Knew of Disputed US-Mexico Gun Programme
15 June 2011
New York Times
WASHINGTON — Knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious, a controversial border security strategy that allowed guns to be shipped illegally into Mexico in an effort to track them to drug cartels, went to the top of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, according to evidence released on Wednesday at a House Oversight Committee hearing.
The operation, which began in 2009, came under fire after two guns linked to it were found at the scene of the killing of an... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New York Times
34952
Mexico,United States
Tighter US Gun Sale Law Could Help Curb Mexico Drug Trade Violence
15 June 2011
Philadelphia Inquirer, Editorial
Too many Americans look down their noses at Mexico, saying it is incapable of controlling the violence that stems from its illegal drug trade.
Not only does that attitude ignore the fact that the drug lords wouldn't thrive without the lucrative U.S. market, it also ignores that the drug dealers are largely armed with American guns.
A new report concludes that about 70 percent of the guns seized in Mexico and submitted to a U.S. gun-tracing program came from the United... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Philadelphia Inquirer
34950
United States,Mexico
America's Guns Fuel Mexico Drug War? The Politics Behind a Hot Issue
15 June 2011
Christian Science Monitor
MEXICO CITY - Who is supplying guns to Mexican drug traffickers?
The answer has become one of the most polemical in the gun rights debate, with Mexico blaming lax US gun laws and gun rights advocates saying that blame is misplaced.
Statistics are cited. Methodologies are dismissed.
A new report released this week by US senators has renewed the fight, with valid points coming from both sides of the divide.
The report, issued by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) of... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Christian Science Monitor
34949
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