There is only one gun store in all of Mexico. So, asks Los Angeles Times Mexico City correspondent Kate Linthicum, why is gun violence soaring?
In an article published May 24, 2018, she describes the lengthy process a Mexican citizen must complete in order to purchase a firearm:
"To enter the Directorate of Arms and Munitions Sales [in Mexico City], customers must undergo months of background checks — six documents are required — and then be frisked by uniformed soldiers."
Linthicum reports the store sells an average of 38 firearms to civilians each day, while an estimated 580 weapons are smuggled into Mexico from the United States.
Meanwhile, gun violence homicides are on pace to set another record in 2018, her article says.
More than 100,000 Mexicans have been shot to death since the government began releasing records in 1997, Linthicum says, adding that most of the guns were smuggled from the U.S., where gun laws are more lenient than in Mexico.
Gun control advocates in the U.S., such as the Center for American Progress, blame lax American gun laws for contributing to the violence in Mexico and other countries.
"The United States has a moral obligation to mitigate its role in arming lethal violence abroad," a study by the Center says. "While there are many factors unique to each nation that affect rates of violent crime, there is more the United States could do to reduce the risks posed by U.S.-sourced guns that cross the border and are used in crime in nearby countries."
The report recommends restrictions including:
• Instituting universal background checks for gun purchases
• Making gun trafficking and straw purchasing federal crimes
• Requiring the reporting of multiple sales of long guns
• Increasing access to international gun trafficking data
• Rejecting efforts that weaken firearm export oversight
In an article published May 24, 2018, she describes the lengthy process a Mexican citizen must complete in order to purchase a firearm:
"To enter the Directorate of Arms and Munitions Sales [in Mexico City], customers must undergo months of background checks — six documents are required — and then be frisked by uniformed soldiers."
Linthicum reports the store sells an average of 38 firearms to civilians each day, while an estimated 580 weapons are smuggled into Mexico from the United States.
Meanwhile, gun violence homicides are on pace to set another record in 2018, her article says.
More than 100,000 Mexicans have been shot to death since the government began releasing records in 1997, Linthicum says, adding that most of the guns were smuggled from the U.S., where gun laws are more lenient than in Mexico.
Gun control advocates in the U.S., such as the Center for American Progress, blame lax American gun laws for contributing to the violence in Mexico and other countries.
"The United States has a moral obligation to mitigate its role in arming lethal violence abroad," a study by the Center says. "While there are many factors unique to each nation that affect rates of violent crime, there is more the United States could do to reduce the risks posed by U.S.-sourced guns that cross the border and are used in crime in nearby countries."
The report recommends restrictions including:
• Instituting universal background checks for gun purchases
• Making gun trafficking and straw purchasing federal crimes
• Requiring the reporting of multiple sales of long guns
• Increasing access to international gun trafficking data
• Rejecting efforts that weaken firearm export oversight
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