Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Chris Griffin [Click to enlarge]

According to a 2000 UN data comparing 37 nations for which statistics were available, the United States ranks third out of the countries involved when it comes to the percentage of homicides that involved a firearm. Sixty-five percent of American homicides involved a gun. This is trailing only Colombia and Guatemala, but 14 percent higher than fourth-place Costa Rica, 25 percent higher than Germany in seventh-place, 31 percent more than thirteenth-place Canada, and far ahead of twenty-second-ranked Mexico's 21 percent of homicides involving firearms.

A lot of attention has been paid to the violence in Mexico lately, and it might be shocking to Americans to learn how many of the guns involved in these crimes came from America. According to a joint statement presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crimes and Drugs by William Hoover, assistant director for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Field Operations, and Anthony Placido, assistant administrator of intelligence with the Drug Enforcement Agency, 90 percent of traceable firearms seized in Mexico originated in the United States.

It should be kept in mind this is only referring to 10,055 of the 29,000 guns seized by Mexico in the past two years that were given to the department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for tracing, according to a Senate testimony. Despite being unable to determine an exact percentage of the origin of all firearms seized by Mexican authorities, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder publicly stated in early April that a majority of guns seized in Mexico came from the United States.

The reasoning for this is because it is easier to obtain a gun in the United States than it is in Mexico. The Mexican Constitution includes a right to bear arms for its citizens, but interpretation of this law limits its people to a small selection of pistols, shotguns and rifles. Not to mention Mexico's right of an individual to bear arms applies only to their own property; they aren't allowed to tote their weapons across the country.

It is easier to smuggle heavy firearms from the United States than it is to obtain them in Mexico initially. As the United States searches for ways to prevent drugs from coming up from Mexico, Mexico is expanding its own border security programs to keep American guns from heading south, according to Mexican Attorney General Medina Mora.

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