Illegal border crossing: How U.S. guns wind up in Canada and Mexico

U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Reuters/File

It is necessary to indicate that, the debate on the weapons of the United States is generally framed in what happens within the borders of the United States. But the effects of easy access to weapons don’t end where Canada and Mexico begin.

Certainly, the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio this month have emboldened foreign positions against lax U.S. gun laws and have similarly changed conversations about what that means for crime and crime security north and south of the US border.

The shooting inside a Walmart in El Paso that claimed 22 lives in minutes was much more than an American tragedy. More than a third of the victims counted in the death toll were Mexican citizens, prompting a rare and withering response south of the border. American weapons purchased from vendors in the United States and then illegally smuggled abroad are a reality in the Americas.

Pressure before control

It should be noted that according to data from the Office of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), around 70% of the weapons recovered by the police in Mexico and sent to the ATF for tracking between 2011 and 2016 were originally purchased to an authorized dealer in the USA. Likewise, some estimates indicate that the number of US weapons. USA Smuggled into Mexico more than 200,000 a year.

In Canada, attitudes about guns are also hardening, as Canadians have been scared that violence south of the border is moving north. The El Paso and Dayton shootings were front-page news in Canada, but joined national stories of Canada’s gun problems.

As such, weaker gun regulations in the United States have undermined Canada’s much stricter rules, as guns are trafficked north. Last week, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Bill Blair said Canada could reduce violence with more money to stop America’s weapons.

Still, as firearm incidents increased, especially in Toronto, the government faces new pressures for greater gun control, including with the ban on firearms. And it is that a group at the forefront that promotes stricter laws are the Canadian Doctors for the Protection against Weapons (CDPG), which was formally launched in February.

Read more.

Source: Sara Miller Llana and Whitney Eulich | The Christian Science Monitor