ChuckUFarley
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Lawmakers: US must enforce assault-gun import ban
By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO – 19 hours ago
MEXICO CITY (AP) — More than 50 U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to enforce a ban on importing assault weapons, saying many such guns are later smuggled south to arm Mexico's ruthless drug cartels.
"They come to the United States from Europe and other places, and they make their way down to Mexico," Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat, told reporters in Mexico City on Wednesday.
The ban was implemented under the administrations of President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, and the U.S. government can enforce it under provisions of the 1968 Gun Control Act.
But the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, has quietly abandoned the ban in recent years, the lawmakers said in their letter. The ATF declined to comment.
"As a result, the civilian firearms market is flooded with imported, inexpensive military-style assault weapons from primarily former Eastern bloc countries including Romania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia," the letter said.
All 53 lawmakers who signed were Democrats.
The ATF estimates that 90 percent of weapons seized in Mexico come from sources within the United States. Mexico has long demanded that the U.S. do more to stop the flow of weapons south, and Obama has pledged to step up those efforts. Congress included $10 million in the economic stimulus package approved last week for the ATF's Project Gunrunner, which targets gun-trafficking networks in the U.S.
Mexico's drug violence has rapidly escalated despite President Felipe Calderon's deployment of 45,000 soldiers across the country to fight cartels. Drug gangs behead their rivals and attack police on a near daily basis, especially in cities near the U.S. border. Last year, more than 6,000 people were killed in drug violence, double the previous year's rate.
Mexican police frequently complain of being outgunned by drug gangs. In some small towns, entire police forces have quit in terror following attacks on their colleagues.
On Tuesday, federal police fighting gunmen in the northern border city of Reynosa had to call the army for help. After the fighting, which left five gunmen dead and seven police injured, authorities seized several assault rifles and even a 60 mm mortar.
In a recent report, the federal Attorney General's Office said Mexican authorities have seized the most weapons from the Gulf drug cartel and its gang of hit men, known as the "Zetas." Members of the cartel have been found with rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and weapons capable of piercing armor.
Lawmakers: US must enforce assault-gun import ban
By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO – 19 hours ago
MEXICO CITY (AP) — More than 50 U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to enforce a ban on importing assault weapons, saying many such guns are later smuggled south to arm Mexico's ruthless drug cartels.
"They come to the United States from Europe and other places, and they make their way down to Mexico," Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat, told reporters in Mexico City on Wednesday.
The ban was implemented under the administrations of President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, and the U.S. government can enforce it under provisions of the 1968 Gun Control Act.
But the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, has quietly abandoned the ban in recent years, the lawmakers said in their letter. The ATF declined to comment.
"As a result, the civilian firearms market is flooded with imported, inexpensive military-style assault weapons from primarily former Eastern bloc countries including Romania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia," the letter said.
All 53 lawmakers who signed were Democrats.
The ATF estimates that 90 percent of weapons seized in Mexico come from sources within the United States. Mexico has long demanded that the U.S. do more to stop the flow of weapons south, and Obama has pledged to step up those efforts. Congress included $10 million in the economic stimulus package approved last week for the ATF's Project Gunrunner, which targets gun-trafficking networks in the U.S.
Mexico's drug violence has rapidly escalated despite President Felipe Calderon's deployment of 45,000 soldiers across the country to fight cartels. Drug gangs behead their rivals and attack police on a near daily basis, especially in cities near the U.S. border. Last year, more than 6,000 people were killed in drug violence, double the previous year's rate.
Mexican police frequently complain of being outgunned by drug gangs. In some small towns, entire police forces have quit in terror following attacks on their colleagues.
On Tuesday, federal police fighting gunmen in the northern border city of Reynosa had to call the army for help. After the fighting, which left five gunmen dead and seven police injured, authorities seized several assault rifles and even a 60 mm mortar.
In a recent report, the federal Attorney General's Office said Mexican authorities have seized the most weapons from the Gulf drug cartel and its gang of hit men, known as the "Zetas." Members of the cartel have been found with rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and weapons capable of piercing armor.
