Role of Opaque Gun Sales in Mexico
The problem:
Federal authorities say more than 60,000 U.S. guns of all types have been recovered in Mexico in the past four years, helping fuel the violence that has contributed to 30,000 deaths.
Corruption:
As an unprecedented number of American guns flows to the murderous drug cartels across the border, the identities of U.S. dealers that sell guns seized at Mexican crime scenes remain confidential under a law passed by Congress in 2003.
Leads to:
Under federal law, a gun dealer who sells two or more handguns to the same person within five business days must report the sales to ATF. The agency has identified such sales as a red flag, or “significant indicator,” of trafficking. But multiple sales of “long guns,” which include shotguns and rifles such as AK-47s, do not have to be reported to ATF.
As a result:
One of the suspects bought 14 AK-47s in one day from one dealer.
Why:
Over the years, the gun lobby has successfully opposed such a requirement, arguing it is not needed, because long guns are far less likely to be used in crimes. But the percentage of long guns recovered in Mexican crimes has been steadily increasing, from 20 percent in 2004 to 48 percent in 2009, reports show.
To be fair:
Most experts and ATF officials agree that the majority of dealers are law-abiding.
Many dealers tip off ATF when they suspect “straw purchases,” in which a person buys for someone who is prohibited from owning a gun, a common practice in Mexican gunrunning cases. Many of the dealers “view themselves as the first line of defense,” said Lawrence Keane, general counsel and vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade group.
-Shlok
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