U.S. Mexico meet on gun trade

[TC95GT]

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/ ... dChannel=0

U.S., Mexican security chiefs to meet on gun trade
Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:21pm EDT

By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and Mexican security officials will strategize next month on fighting the arms trade fueling Mexico's bloody drug war, but a U.S. ban on assault rifles favored by the traffickers will not be on the agenda.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced plans this week to meet their Mexican counterparts -- Attorney General Eduardo Medina and Interior Minister Fernando Francisco Gomez Mont -- at an arms trafficking conference in Cuernavaca, Mexico in early April.

Napolitano told reporters on Thursday the officials will discuss ways of fighting the huge flow of weapons from the United States into Mexico, where they are used by drug gangs in turf battles that killed 6,000 people last year.

To Mexico's great unease, the widely available U.S. guns are often the merchandise carried back along smuggling routes for illegal drugs coming into the United States.

The Mexican drug violence has ignited fears that it would spill over into the United States, and officials in Washington are drawing up new contingency plans for sending military troops if needed to U.S. areas affected by drug violence.

"The only issue is at what level do we (invoke) in the worst-case scenarios, and we're not at the worst-case scenarios yet," she said.

The plans are expected soon, along with a more-immediate Mexican border security plan to be announced separately, Napolitano said.

She said she did not expect regular military forces to be deployed to any violent scenario. Rather, she said, "the real issue is the National Guard right now."

In February, Holder had said the Obama administration would push for renewing a U.S. ban on semi-automatic assault weapons that expired under former President George W. Bush. He said it would "have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum."

Assault weapons are among the smugglers' favorite weapons.

But U.S. gun-owners groups, who represent a powerful voting bloc wary of the Obama administration, reacted in sharp protest to Holder's comments.

This week neither Holder nor Napolitano revealed any intention of offering an assault-weapons ban to their Mexican counterparts.

"I think what we're going to do is try to enforce the laws that we have on the books," Holder told reporters on Wednesday.

Napolitano on Thursday gave a similar answer when asked if an assault-weapons ban would be on the table at Cuernavaca.

"There's lots that you can do on the investigation and prosecution side under the existing laws. The key thing is to improve and to keep improving on our interdiction of the weapons before they even get in there."

Issues that will be discussed include cracking down on "straw purchasers" who buy guns on smugglers' behalf in the United States, and more quickly tracing weapons found in Mexico in an attempt to pinpoint major U.S. sellers.

Improving detection systems at the U.S.-Mexican border and ports will be another significant topic, she said.

(Editing by Anthony Boadle)

[elmerfuddem]

"To Mexico's great unease, the widely available U.S. guns are often the merchandise carried back along smuggling routes for illegal drugs coming into the United States."

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters Wednesday that federal law-enforcement officials will no longer go after providers of marijuana that's used for medicinal purposes in the 13 states in which medical marijuana is legal unless that service is just a front for unlawful activities.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checku ... s-col-blog

Are there any numbers to support these claims of loopholes, and straw purchases?
Does this mean I can trade my guns for Marijuana?
Holder said he wants to stop the flow of assault weapons to stem the violence associated with the drug trade. But, on the other hand, its ok with him if you have a "need" to smoke it. (drugs).

Why not decriminalize the use, and sale of marijuana? Tax it. It will create $$$$$$.
This will stop the demand for marijuana from Mexico, and overseas.
The other drugs will remain an issue, but a much smaller one.

Many people think we will have more problems in society because of legalized pot. I disagree. I can grow, buy, and smoke all the pot I want. The government is simply not going to stop me. Legalize it, and I will grow, buy, and smoke the same amount. Zero.
Anyone here ever smoke a dubie and get into a bar fight?
We have enough problems with alcohol? More with marijuana? I doubt it. Remember, I can get all I want.

[PhilaBOR]

How does Mexico like it when s*** is smuggled into their country? They've been sending drugs and illegals (NOT UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS) into our country for decades. It goes both ways.

Besides, those gun stores in Arizona and Texas have to stop selling full-auto and grenades that end up in the drug cartels.

[nyffman]

[R.E.T.]

Let's see. Buy a full auto AR15 in the U.S. for about fifteen thousand dollars plus a two hundred dollar tax stamp and smuggle it into Mexico or pay about one hundred and fifty dollars each for what ever quantity you want with no tax stamp in Pakistan for full auto AK 47s?

[ComradeBurg]

What I want to know is where are the Mexicans getting all these full autos in Amercia. Because I certainly can't find anybody selling them en mass.

[nyffman]

There is a great deal of information coming to the masses from the conventional media, much of it inaccurate. Here's an example.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/opinion/ci_12019467

Take aim at guns, once and for alThe Advocate Staff
Posted: 03/28/2009 05:20:01 PM EDT
Updated: 03/28/2009 05:21:45 PM EDT


In all corners of the United States, small towns, big cities, and right here in the neighborhoods of Connecticut, there are daily reports of wanton shootings. Some of the least expected to own guns are carrying them, and guns are prevalent among those prone to ignore the law. Every day there are reports of injuries, or death by gunfire. Protecting one's turf for the sale of drugs is sometimes the cause of a shooting.
Years ago any disagreements were settled by good old-fashioned fisticuffs, or a wrestling match held in a neighborhood lot. When it was over the combatants shook hands and went about their business of getting on with a "pick-up" ball game or some other gainful event.

These days we have learned to take the news of a shooting of a teenager or any person in stride "¦ or, as best we can when we learn of a death or serious injury caused by a firearm.

From the daily news reports one would think we were living in the Wild West of old.

So, where are the illegal guns coming from? The latest news is that most of them are coming from all points in the country. We manufacture so many guns that those used in the border eruptions in Mexico come from this country.

Go ahead say it now, "Here he goes again." The National Rifle Association during the past eight years has received preferential treatment from some members of Congress, and the executive branch. The NRA quotes the Second Amendment to the Constitution that says that we all have the

right to bear arms. What the NRA doesn't say is that the Second Amendment was written in the days when all men were subjected to being called from their homes to defend the country. There was no military draft and the muskets were kept by the front door to be at the ready when any enemy approached.

In reality, some people are bearing arms illegally and it appears that the illegal carriers far out number the good citizens who carry guns and have a permit to do so.

There are reports of gun dealers who drive to Virginia, fill their car trunks with weapons, come to this area and sell them to anyone. "¦ And now Mexico has joined that practice of "gun running." Sad to say, the process is working in both directions. The latest reports tell us that there aren't enough federal agents to control the situation, and they blame the proliferation of guns on the drug trade. That may be so, but when the news reports almost every day about a hold up or a turf war that was settled by a shooting, law-abiding citizens shudder.

Also troubling are the news reports of wanton shootings that usually occur over a fight for turf in the drug trade or an argument over some inconsequential matter. Some of that gunplay has occurred in the middle of downtown Stamford, usually on a busy Saturday night.

The problem is compounded by the fact that law-abiding citizens have no way of knowing who is carrying a gun, whether in a car or under a jacket. The advice that I received from a law officer was, do not engage in, say, a motor vehicle argument over a parking place or being cut off. Be retiring and back away from such situations.

But the bottom line begs the question of when is the Congress going to amend the gun laws? During these days of economic recession and high unemployment it is difficult to communicate with one's representative in Congress about gun laws, it is the economy all the time. But when the rhetoric concerning high bonuses, and what to do about unemployment, hopefully dies down, perhaps Congress will take up the problem of the proliferation of guns in our society.

Trading in guns is a profitable business. And those who conduct their business of selling firearms to hunters and sportspeople according to the law are not to be blamed for the proliferation of firearms in our society.

The lawmakers need to look to themselves when it comes down to crime. Those same lawmakers are guilty of relaxing some gun control laws for the sake of financial support from the National Rifle Association.

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Don Russell is a columnist for The Advocate. His e-mail address is HvyWrtr@aol.com.