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In reply to the discussion: Gun control: Japan has it right [View all]UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)(And these are just the guns they've traced.)
By Pete Yost
The Washington Post
April 27, 2012
Mexican authorities have recovered 68,000 guns in the past five years that have been traced back to the United States, the federal government said Thursday.
The flood of weapons underscores complaints from Mexico that the United States is responsible for arming the drug cartels plaguing Americas southern neighbor. More than 47,000 people in Mexico have been killed in six years of violence between warring cartels.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, in releasing its latest data covering 2007 through 2011, said that many of the guns seized in Mexico and submitted to the ATF for tracing were recovered at the scene of cartel shootings while others were seized in raids on illegal arms caches. All the recovered weapons were suspected of being used in crimes in Mexico.
At a North American summit in Washington on April 2, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said the U.S. government has not done enough to stop the flow of assault weapons and other guns.
More: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-04-27/politics/35454066_1_operation-fast-and-furious-assault-weapons-gun-traffic