Invite Reminder: Thursday, May 31st - Slowing the Flow of Smuggled U.S. Guns Into Mexico

Guns smuggled from the United States into Mexico are contributing to the rise in drug cartel violence in our southern neighbor.

Please join us on May 31st, NDN/NPI's "21st Century Border Initiative," will convene a forum in the US Capitol looking at whether there is more we can do in the US to stop this illegal southbound flow of guns into Mexico, a country where owning a gun of any kind is illegal. Below are three facts about gun smuggling into Mexico to help you understand the dynamics of this debate:

  • The U.S. and Mexican governments share information to identify the source of firearms. Mexico has provided the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) information on 99,691 guns. This agency determined that 68 percent of those weapons came from the U.S. 
  • Trade of American firearms to Mexico continues to grow. The number of all types of ATF-traced firearms manufactured in the U.S. or imported into the U.S. and later recovered in Mexico rose from 11,842 in 2007 to 14,504 in 2011.
  • The Straw Purchaser Penalty Enhancement Act proposed by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Ca.) imposes tough new penalties on people who buy guns in order to sell them to third unauthorized purchasers and it would give federal agents new tools to crack down on the flow of weapons across the Southwest border into Mexico.

Joining us will be Congressman Adam Schiff of California and the Mexican Ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan.  The forum will take place at 2456 Rayburn House Office Building, and run from 12:15pm to 1:30pm.  You can RSVP here.