Controle de armas no México

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To add to this: Mexico has now beat out Columbia in the world cup of kidnapping (sequester)
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Strict Mexican gun laws creating black market for U.S. weapons
By SERGIO CHAPA
The Brownsville Herald
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BROWNSVILLE, August 16, 2005 — Mexico’s strict gun control laws are contributing to an illegal gun market and easier access to weapons, according to U.S. law enforcement officials that are close observers of a recent upswing in border violence.

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Since January, more than 600 people have been killed in an ongoing war between rival drug cartels using high-powered handguns and assault rifles fighting for control of drug smuggling routes on the Texas-Mexico border.

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Federal gun seizures show that a majority of weapons used in violent crimes in Mexico were smuggled into the country from the United States or bought through other sources in a lucrative black market.

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Mexican law requires its citizens to apply for a permit from the Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA) before they can buy a handgun or rifle for hunting or self-defense.

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SEDENA officials could not be reached for comment. The agency’s Web site shows applicants must submit to a background check as well as provide verification of employment and several references.

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Federal agents that asked not to be identified for security reasons said the permitting process in Mexico is expensive and approval to buy a handgun or rifle (that must be .22-caliber or smaller) can take up to a year. In the United States, the Brady law requires federally licensed gun dealers to run background checks on all buyers; the process usually takes seven days or less.

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At the same time, Mexican law also prohibits gun owners from carrying their weapons in public. Texas gun owners can carry weapons if they have a concealed handgun permit.According to SEDENA, Mexico has only two licensed gun manufacturers, compared to almost 200 in the United States.

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The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reports the U.S. arms industry is worth $1.2 billion and exports more than 141,000 guns per year.

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Limited distribution in Mexico makes legal guns and ammunition more expensive than those smuggled in from the United States.

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Ignacio Corona, a Mexican and Latin American Cultures professor at Ohio State University, said those and other gun laws put Mexico’s honest citizens at a disadvantage.

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“All the weapons are in the hands of the bad guys,” he said.

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But at the same time, Corona said it is difficult to predict how changes in Mexico’s gun laws would change the situation.

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“If it was more lax,” he said, “perhaps it would be worse because there is no education in the culture on how to use the guns properly.”

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