Enough guns in Mexico to arm one in three citizens
Over 15 million guns are circulating in Mexico, of which 13 million are illegally owned, and represent an arsenal capable of arming one in three adult males in the country.
The report by the Center for Social and Public Opinion Studies, a research arm of Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies, said that guns were used in more than half of the 120,000 homicides committed in Mexico between 2007 and 2012.
Parliamentary Investigator Jose de Jesus Gonzalez Rodriguez says that U.S. gun policy is partly responsible for the wave of drug violence.
“In Mexico it’s almost impossible to legally buy a gun, but in the U.S. border states there are more than 8,000 gun traders and Mexican drug cartels can easily acquire firearms through associates.”
Experts estimate that around 2,000 guns are illegally smuggled into Mexico every day, which counts toward a total of 730,000 per year.
Border traffic has increased dramatically since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994, and with almost 30,000 trucks crossing every day, there is plenty of space to smuggle arms.
December.