Yet another Mexico Article.....

[Mass-diver]

From CN: check out the bold added by me

CNN) -- President Obama visits Mexico with many issues on the table, but reinstating the ban on assault weapons in the U.S. isn't likely to be one on which the two countries can reach agreement.
Mexican federal police officers this week display an arsenal seized near the U.S. border.

Mexican federal police officers this week display an arsenal seized near the U.S. border.

Mexican officials say criminals use assault weapons from the U.S. in the violent border region.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's ambassador to the U.S., say reinstating the ban would stop the deadly flow of weapons across the border.

Under the Clinton administration in 1994, Congress banned possession of 19 military-style assault weapons. The ban was allowed to expire 10 years later during the Bush administration.

Earlier this year, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that Obama would like to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons, noting, "I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico at a minimum." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last month that as a senator, she supported a measure to reinstate it.

And the urban policy section of the White House Web site says Obama and Vice President Joe Biden "support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent."

Obama still supports reinstating the ban, as he did during the presidential campaign, but there are no plans to reintroduce it anytime soon, according to an administration official.
e

Obama thinks more can be done to stop the illegal flow of weapons to Mexico within existing laws, the official said, noting that the president has taken steps to deploy more law enforcement to curb the illegal flows of drugs, weapons and cash in both directions across the border.

The administration is unaware of any broad-based efforts in Congress to reinstate the ban, the official said.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told CBS on Thursday that reinstating the ban "simply is not part of the plan that we're talking about here." Video Watch what Napolitano says about drug violence »

The Obama administration says the U.S. shares responsibility for the situation in Mexico, but as far as the ban goes, "there's a lot on our plate," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. Video Watch what's on the table for Obama's trip to Mexico »

Gun rights advocates stress that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to own firearms without restriction. Gun control supporters interpret the amendment to mean that states shall keep militias but that an individual's right to own firearms may be restricted.

Those who support the assault weapons ban as a way to curb violence cite figures from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that say American gun sellers supply the Mexican drug cartels with 95 percent to 100 percent of their guns.

But others say that claim cannot be substantiated -- and argue that less that 20 percent of weapons used in crimes in Mexico are traced to the U.S.

Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association of America, says U.S. rights are not the cause of Mexico's wrongs.

In a commentary on CNN.com, LaPierre wrote that to believe U.S. freedoms are fueling the violence "you have to believe these butchers and beheaders break every Mexican law they want except Mexican gun laws, which they honor -- while they break American gun laws."

"Everything Mexico's murderous thugs are doing is already illegal. At issue is not the absence of law, but the absence of political will to enforce the laws that both nations already possess," he wrote.

On the other side, however, there are those who say loopholes in America's gun laws fuel violence in both Mexico and the United States.

"We need to realize that the Mexican drug cartels are arming themselves here because our gun laws have loopholes so large that criminals and gun traffickers can easily drive gun-laden trucks through them," former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, wrote in a commentary for CNN.com.

"We need to prevent Mexican criminals and the traffickers who supply them from buying guns by changing our gun laws and strengthening U.S. law enforcement's ability to crack down on corrupt gun dealers."

On the eve of Obama's arrival, Calderon told ABC he thought the weapons ban was "very good legislation."

"During that period, we didn't suffer a lot, like we suffered in the four or five years," he said.

And Sarukhan told CBS this weekend, "There's a direct correlation between the expiration of the assault weapons ban and our seizures of assault weapons."

He said, "We cannot determine how Congress and the administration will move on this. What we will say is that this is one of the instruments by reinstating the ban that could have a profound impact on the number and the caliber of weapons going down to Mexico."

Obama was to meet Thursday with Calderon in Mexico City ahead of his trip to Trinidad and Tobago for the Summit of the Americas.

But Mexico isn't the only consideration when it comes to gun control. In the United States, gun control is a wedge issue -- and one that can carry serious political ramifications.

Democrats tend to shy away from remarks that could be interpreted as anti-gun, especially in swing states and districts. (Remember the frenzy that ensued after then-candidate Obama said people in small towns get bitter and "cling to guns or religion"?)

Democrats are usually thought of as the party more likely to enforce ownership restrictions, while Republicans are associated with ownership rights.

As a candidate, Obama promised, "I'm not going to take away your guns.'' Any other message would have been unpopular in the traditionally Republican states he won such as North Carolina and Virginia.

Other Democrats, such as Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb of Virginia, also are getting elected with the help of NRA supporters.
advertisement

Even so, with a Democrat in the White House and a Democrat-controlled Congress, there's been a surge in requests for background checks of potential gun buyers, according to the FBI, and some gun owners say they think restrictions are somewhere on Obama's to-do list.

Asked Thursday if it's just too politically difficult now to reinstate the ban, Gibbs said, "I think the president believes that we can have a greater outcome in the short term working to enforce the laws that are on our books."
E-mail to a frie

 

[jpattersonnh]

Man O man, sounds like Mass stating that 90% of the Firearms in Mass used for Illegal action came from NH. It actually came to less than 1%. 70% from Atlanta, 20% from NYC and Jersey. Morons!!! FBI proved it, and can again.

 

[RI_John]

Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association of America, says U.S. rights are not the cause of Mexico's wrongs.

In a commentary on CNN.com, LaPierre wrote that to believe U.S. freedoms are fueling the violence "you have to believe these butchers and beheaders break every Mexican law they want except Mexican gun laws, which they honor -- while they break American gun laws."

"Everything Mexico's murderous thugs are doing is already illegal. At issue is not the absence of law, but the absence of political will to enforce the laws that both nations already possess," he wrote.

Ahh....... nice, a cool breeze of logic and rationality amidst a screed of hyperbolic bullshit!

 

[EC1]

How about this, an easy way to stop the alledged guns going from the US into mexico, CLOSE THE F****ING BORDER!!!!

 

[Twigg]

How about this, an easy way to stop the alledged guns going from the US into mexico, CLOSE THE F****ING BORDER!!!!

There you go using logic and reason again...

 

[hminsky]

On the eve of Obama's arrival, Calderon told ABC he thought the weapons ban was "very good legislation."

"During that period, we didn't suffer a lot, like we suffered in the four or five years," he said.

I see, so the post-ban AR15's and AK47's were no problem at all, just the pre-ban ones.

So what he is saying is that the presence of bayonet lugs and adjustable length stocks has made the problem of criminal gangs much much worse. And those flash hiders, yeah, they really were the straw that broke the camels backs.

Hmm, I guess that assault weapon ban really worked after all.

And those drug dealers having to stop and reload a new magazine after ten rounds, put a real crimp in their killing and kidnapping, I am sure.

 

[Twigg]

Your sarcasm is dripping down here onto my post.

 

[jhblaze1]

How about this, an easy way to stop the alledged guns going from the US into mexico, CLOSE THE F****ING BORDER!!!!

Can't, that would be racist. Only people who hate hispanics would suggest such a thing....

 

[Ricochet]

It's really wonderful that the libs have turned the illegal drug issues into solely gun issues.

 

[Bob J]

Wall Street Journal Article today

"By CAM SIMPSON

President Barack Obama on Thursday told Mexican President Felipe Calderón that the U.S. would stem a flow of weapons across the border into Mexico. But while Washington has spent more than $30 billion since the early 1990s to keep illicit goods and illegal immigrants from entering the U.S., it has had virtually nothing in place to check -- let alone stop -- what is flowing out.

Mexican authorities have long pressed the U.S. to do more to stop the southbound trafficking of American-procured weapons, dubbed the "Iron River." But just how little the U.S. has done in the past is on vivid display at border crossings in Laredo, Texas, a town perched on the northern bank of the Rio Grande.

President Obama meets with Mexican president Felipe Calderon in Mexico City to talk about restoring and sustaining economic growth in Mexico and the U.S. Video courtesy of Fox News.
A recent internal government assessment of the gun trade named Laredo as a top pipeline for Mexican drug cartels. Nearly six million passenger vehicles, 1.6 million trucks, 3.8 million pedestrians and nearly 40,000 buses crossed the border in Laredo last year, making it one of the busiest transit points in the nation.

At Laredo's biggest international bridge, checking vehicles for Mexico-bound contraband is such a foreign concept that the U.S. government doesn't even own the six outbound lanes. They belong to the city.

The only infrastructure dedicated to stopping motorists heading south is a toll gate, so Laredo can collect $3 for every passing vehicle. It is the same at the nearby crossing for pedestrians, where the toll is 75 cents.

"Our resources and our equipment are set up to do the northbound examinations," said Eugenio "Gene" Garza, the Laredo port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Although Mr. Garza has one of the few permanent teams conducting outbound checks along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, he doesn't have staff for round-the-clock examinations, which he said are crucial to making a difference.

"The key to outbound enforcement is you have to do it 24/7," he said. "That has been the key. When our officers work it, they get these seizures. But, you know, we need to be able to do the same inspections southbound that we do northbound."

President Obama arrived at the presidential residence Thursday in Mexico City. He vowed to push for ratification of an arms-trafficking treaty.

Outbound enforcement led to an average of just 183 weapon seizures at all federal ports along the Southwestern border in each of the past four years, according to internal U.S. government data seen by The Wall Street Journal. The assessment estimated that to be less than 1% of the total number of arms flowing south.

Even after Mr. Obama's administration said last month that it would boost enforcement, local police are often the ones who do the checking.

That was the case from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. one day last week, when the nation's outbound enforcement in Laredo boiled down to Detective Arturo Galvan and another officer, who were aided by a flashlight and battered orange traffic cones.

Just past sunset, as they tried to spot and stop suspect vehicles amid streams of southbound cars and pickup trucks, an automated license-plate scanner flagged the tag of a wanted felon, a man identified as "armed and dangerous."

The scanner is the only piece of gear focused on vehicles leaving the U.S., but Laredo police working the bridge don't have access to its data because it is operated by federal agents. Mr. Galvan learned of the hit when a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent scampered toward him from a distant booth on the federal side of the bridge, where 12 lanes of traffic lead into the U.S.

The luxury sport-utility vehicle was already gone.

It would be difficult to imagine a similar scene across the yellow curb dividing the two sides of Laredo's bridge.

Every vehicle coming into the U.S. passes through a radiation-detection portal. Every driver faces an agent. Every tour bus is emptied of passengers and luggage, before it is checked by dogs or scanned by a huge X-ray machine permanently mounted on a flatbed truck. Soon, electronic scanners will read travel documents and the faces of the travelers holding them.

Similarly stringent efforts are apparent at Laredo's port for commercial truck traffic, known as the World Trade Bridge. There, inbound tractor-trailers roll into cement buildings constructed to house massive X-ray machines, or get offloaded by hand in the search for contraband.

To boost outbound enforcement, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano plans to deploy more license-plate scanners along the border, more temporary teams and more X-ray machines. But the police in Laredo, who know the local turf well because they are battling a plague of vehicle thefts, say only an around-the-clock presence will make a real difference.

Write to Cam Simpson at [email protected]"



You would think that if it is such a problem for Mexico they would move to police their own border.....

Here is the link but not sure if you need a subscription to access:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123992496114427301.html#mod=todays_us_page_one

 

[Spanz]

since any firearm, if in fact there are any, going from the US to Mexico would have been fired at least once, it would be a simple thing for border guards do use an explosives sniffer. It would pick up traces of the powder burned in the rifle, and would allow locating them despite how they are concealed.