Stop Gun Smuggling to Mexico

Since 2007, nearly 40,000 people have been killed as a result of the Mexican “drug war.”  Approximately 70 to 90 percent of the guns used by Mexican drug cartels originate from gun sellers in the United States.  Weak gun laws within the US have created an open market by which unlicensed sellers are able to sell guns without a background check.  Currently, there are no laws limiting the number of weapons that a buyer can purchase, allowing illegal traffickers to buy in bulk.  And since the expiration of the federal ban on assault weapons, military-style and high capacity weaponry is readily available.  Current figures estimate that 2,000 weapons flow from the United States each day. 

Weapons acquired in the U.S. perpetuate transnational criminal activity, and are increasingly destructive to communities on both sides of the border. Expanding and improving measures to ensure that military-style firearms do not end up in the hands of traffickers will save lives.

Civil society movements in Mexico are calling for an end to the violence, and Mennonite Central Committee U.S. has joined in the broad-based Stop Gun Smuggling coalition.  For the sake of peace and stability in Mexico, as well as in the US, Mexican and U.S. civil society organizations are petitioning President Obama to reform US gun policies as they pertain to Mexico. 

Sign a petition to President Obama