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Increased Illegal Gun Prevalence

If You Hate Gun Control, You Can Thank the Drug War for Causing it


Escalating drug war violence in Mexico has brought recent attention to the fact that the cartels are often armed with American guns. The border is really a two-way street, with drugs moving north while cash and weaponry travel south. Here's Mexican President Felipe Calderon claiming that over 90% of the cartels' firepower comes from the U.S.



U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has proposed re-implementing the assault weapons ban and discussions are under way about what else can be done to curb the flow of American weaponry across our southern border. Naturally, opponents of gun control are concerned. The popular right-wing blog NewsBusters has a post criticizing media coverage of the issue, arguing that recent statements regarding the role of U.S. weapons in facilitating Mexican drug war violence have been widely exaggerated. The conclusion caught my eye:
Gun control doesn't work to stop crime. Just look at places that have very strict gun regulation. Like ... Mexico.
Just replace "gun control/regulation" with "drug prohibition" and you've solved the riddle of why conditions in Mexico continue to deteriorate. Of course, while the NewsBusters site is overflowing with gun rights advocacy, discussion of drug policy is nowhere to be found, save for an occasional jab at the pro-pot liberal media. It never ceases to amaze me that some people actually believe enjoying guns is a personal choice, but enjoying marijuana is not.

So let me spell it out: the drug war is a huge reason the new administration is looking at the gun issue. Drug prohibition has created a bloodbath in Mexico that is now spilling across our southern border. The problem is getting worse because our strategy of fighting it out with the cartels just causes more crime and violence.

Marijuana prohibition alone plays a staggering role in funding the drug war violence that may soon result in new domestic gun control measures, yet NewsBusters has repeatedly criticized the discussion of reforming marijuana laws. The bottom line is that if you oppose gun control while simultaneously supporting a prohibitionist drug policy that increases gun violence and prompts calls for regulation, you're shooting yourself in the foot.

Ironic: Canada Seeks Extradition of American Gun Dealer

The U.S. is a major source country for guns:

TORONTO -- Canadian officials have told the United States they want to bring a Chicago gun dealer to Toronto to stand trial on charges of smuggling more than 200 handguns across the border.

The case, which may be a first for Canada, appears to signal a harder line against gun smugglers as Toronto grapples with a rash of gang-related shootings that have claimed several innocent bystanders.

Seventy per cent of the crime guns seized by Toronto police have been smuggled into the country from the United States. [National Post]

For 3 years, the U.S. has been attempting to extradite Canadian marijuana reformer Marc Emery for shipping pot seeds to America. Meanwhile, we’re supplying Canada’s violent criminals with all the firepower they could ever need.

American guns are driving the drug war in Mexico and beyond, while we prance about self-righteously issuing certifications to other countries based on their level of cooperation with our international drug strategy. American weapons kill more people than Colombian cocaine ever could, yet we pass judgment on small countries that fail to conquer the black market drug armies that are fed with our drug money and armed with our guns.

Still, the problem is not our gun laws. The problem is drug prohibition, which creates an infinite international market for high-powered weaponry. It is really quite absurd to think that we live in a country that manufactures enough guns to kill everyone on earth tomorrow, yet we jail our own citizens for growing marijuana for personal use and we try to extradite foreigners for being nice enough to send us decent pot seeds.