Cartel Muscle
Cartels are notorious for smuggling heroin, marijuana, methamphetamines, fentanyl, and other drugs into the United States. Organized crime groups are involved in human trafficking Human traffickers use victims for sex or as drug ‘mules’ who transport drugs. Drugs and human trafficking are very lucrative crimes. Cartels engage in kidnappings, murder, and the targeting of journalists who expose their operations. Where do these violent cartels get the weapons to enforce their reign of terror?
Mexico’s Only Firearms Store
Mexico has only one firearms store, the Directorate of Arms and Munitions Sales, located just outside of Mexico City. It is run by the Mexican military. A buyer must present the Directorate with a birth certificate, proof of employment, a clean criminal record, proof of current address, and government identification documents. Qualified buyers may own one handgun and nine long guns. Shotguns are limited to twelve gauge; rifles must be less than 30 caliber. Cartel weapons are coming from outside of Mexico.
Cartel firearms come from the United States
The U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates that seventy percent of firearms used in crimes in Mexico came from the United States. Over 500,000 American firearms are smuggled into Mexico yearly. The United States currently has an ‘anything goes’ interpretation of the Second Amendment. Restrictions on weapons purchasing are nearly nonexistent in the U.S. Cartels will use a ‘straw purchaser ‘- sometimes a U.S. citizen with no criminal record- to buy weapons from gun shops, gun shows, or private individuals. The cartels then smuggle the arms across the border to Mexico.
Mexico’s Lawsuit
Mexico may have found a way to hold U.S. firearms dealers accountable for sales that end up with cartels. U.S. laws were designed to protect only legal firearms commerce. Mexico is accusing five U.S. gun dealers of willful negligence regarding the trafficking of military-style weapons and ammunition to Mexican drug cartels. The gun dealer’s negligence aids and abets gun violent crime in Mexico. Mexico claims that the reckless actions of U.S. gun manufacturers are unlawful in that it has not only contributed to violence but have also caused Mexico other harm, such as declining investment and economic activity. Estados Unidos Mexicanos v. Diamondback Shooting Sports Incorporated, et al is a lawsuit brought by Mexico asking for ten billion dollars in damages. Mexico may have finally found a loophole in the United States’ current nihilistic and destructive interpretation of the Second Amendment. Want to cripple cartel crime?
STOP ARMING THE CARTELS!
Sources
https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/criminal-violence-mexico
https://www.dea.gov/stories/2021/2021-01/2021-01-28/violent-drug-organizations-use-human-trafficking-expand-profits
https://insightcrime.org/investigations/clans-coyotes-cartels-human-trafficking-us-mexico-border/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/mexican-drug-cartels-are-targeting-americas-last-great-place-rcna130822
https://www.msuilr.org/new-blog/2021/4/21/there-can-be-only-one-mexico-has-one-gun-store-but-a-proliferation-of-guns
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexicos-lawsuit-against-arizona-gun-dealers-can-proceed-us-judge-rules-2024-03-25/
https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2024-03/news/mexican-lawsuit-against-us-gun-firms-proceed
https://www.marketplace.org/2023/10/19/how-a-booming-gun-business-in-the-u-s-arms-mexicos-cartels/
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-16-223
Thanks and a tip of the hat to https://www.flickr.com/photos/glasgows/432945997/ for the gun show image.
