Sen. Kerry makes push for tighter gun control

[stevie_d_64]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6350856.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

EL PASO — The United States does not need to send troops to the border in response to Mexico's drug war, nor is Mexico in danger of becoming a failed state, law enforcement officials told a congressional panel.

Witnesses testifying before members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in El Paso on Monday urged the lawmakers to bolster law enforcement in the region, increase aid to Mexico and push it to reform institutions whose weaknesses have been exposed by their struggle with drug-trafficking gangs.

Experts and members of Congress likewise said Mexico had not become a "failed state" despite corruption and intimidation that have weakened local control in some areas.

"Cartels are primarily interested in fighting each other," not in challenging for political control, Howard Campbell, an anthropologist at the University of Texas, El Paso, where the hearing was held, told the senators.

Monday's hearings, the committee's first along the border, came amid a flurry of activity in Washington focusing on Mexico's struggle with drug cartels. The Obama administration last week announced it would send more money and agents to the border, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. will visit soon. President Barack Obama will visit Mexico on April 16.

At Monday's hearing, committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said he had been shocked to see killings and beheadings "just a stone's throw across the Rio Grande from where we're sitting this morning."

Across the border, thousands of Mexican soldiers patrol Ciudad Juarez, which saw about 2,000 murders in 14 months.

Kerry called for a ban on the imports of assault rifles, such as the AK-47, into the United States. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., opposed the idea.

Assault rifles bought in the United States are favorites among cartel gunmen, who find them effective for the urban warfare, William McMahon, deputy assistant director of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told the committee. ATF agents have traced many guns confiscated in Mexico to purchases in the United States, McMahon said.

For example, more than 60 guns seized following a shootout among factions of the Tijuana cartel in April 2008 were traced to purchases in Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia and Denver, McMahon said.

The visiting senators were particularly interested in how much violence was spilling into the United States. Cartel-related killings have occurred in Texas, and cities such as Phoenix are experiencing a rise in kidnappings for ransom, which authorities say are related to debt collection among drug dealers. Mexican cartels have extended their networks into as many as 230 U.S. cities, according to federal law enforcement agencies.

El Paso District Attorney Jaime Esparza said trafficking rivalries and infighting had little effect on crime in U.S. border towns. During those bloody 14 months in Juarez, El Paso had 20 homicides, Esparza said.

"Austin, Houston, Dallas -- they are not seeing their numbers up" either, said Esparza, who is a past president of an association of Texas prosecutors. "The rhetoric has been escalated and exaggerated."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently asked for 1,000 National Guard troops to be stationed at the border. But Esparza said he didn't think militarizing the border was needed.

"We are safe here in El Paso," Esparza said. "If we see a radical change, I would tell you differently."

[stevie_d_64]

Somehow, the constant banging the media and the politicians are doing to the issue has me a little concerned...

Just a little...

[bryang]

It is amazing to me that they will use anything to take away our protection because of a few straw purchases. McMahon named off the cities where these guns "supposedly" came from, if so, why not use the laws we have and put the one in jail that did the crime...not punish the law abiding citizens. I personally think they are just using this "crises" to push through their political agenda.

-geo

[Oldgringo]

I can't help but wonder about a state that keeps electing the likes of Kerry, Kennedy and Franks. Is it the water or what?

[txmatt]

Interesting that San Francisco was on the list of cities that these guns were bought in, given that CA has had a ban on "assault weapons" for awhile. Hardly bolsters the argument for an AWB

[MTICop]

Somehow, the constant banging the media and the politicians are doing to the issue has me a little concerned...

Just a little...

"A little bit" ......... right!

[Oldgringo]

San Francisco has to be a misprint or misquote. Nancy Pelosi would not stand, in a bipartisan way {sarcasm}, for guns to be a problem in her town.

[FIFTY]

Interesting that San Francisco was on the list of cities that these guns were bought in, given that CA has had a ban on "assault weapons" for awhile. Hardly bolsters the argument for an AWB

You beat me to it!

Now if we could just outlaw grenade launchers and other explosives so the cartels can't buy those here and smuggle them back to Mexico, then we would be completely safe....Oh, wait, those ARE illegal here! Where could they possibly be getting these fully automatic weapons and grenades?? Maybe from some of Mexico's neighbors to the south? Oh the horror!!!

In all seriousness, is it possible that the amount of gun smuggling is being exaggerated by anti-gunners so it can be used as an excuse for another ban? These cartels have guns and weapons that are far more dangerous than what you can buy at Bubba's gun shop in Brownsville. They must have some other source for some of the things in their arsenal.

[bryang]

I can't help but wonder about a state that keeps electing the likes of Kerry, Kennedy and Franks. Is it the water or what?

This is what gets me all riled and foaming at the mouth....why, WHY, do these people keep sending the same crooks back time after time! Some of them have been up there for 50 or more years. They have never had a "real" job and they have about as much common since as a mule (sorry mule, I didn't mean to insult you). People of America....WAKE UP!

-geo

[The Annoyed Man]

A mule has a lot more common sense than a Massachusetts voter. Massachusetts has squandered its birthright for a mess of pottage.

[Liberty]

A mule has a lot more common sense than a Massachusetts voter. Massachusetts has squandered its birthright for a mess of pottage.

A strange wind is blowing over there and there may be changes comming in the future. They had Romney as a Governor and were real close to over throwing the state income tax.
Barney Frank is the best thing that has happened to conservatives. He is getting a lot of of airtime and moderates are getiing to actually see what kind of people the Democrats are fronting. Who can listen to this guy rail on about how it is industys greed that caused the banking crisis when he was in charge. I for one pray the Democrats never get smart and muzzle Barney Frank.

[stevie_d_64]

A mule has a lot more common sense than a Massachusetts voter. Massachusetts has squandered its birthright for a mess of pottage.

A strange wind is blowing over there and there may be changes comming in the future. They had Romney as a Governor and were real close to over throwing the state income tax.
Barney Frank is the best thing that has happened to conservatives. He is getting a lot of of airtime and moderates are getiing to actually see what kind of people the Democrats are fronting. Who can listen to this guy rail on about how it is industys greed that caused the banking crisis when he was in charge. I for one pray the Democrats never get smart and muzzle Barney Frank.

You nailed it!

[The Annoyed Man]

I can't help but wonder about a state that keeps electing the likes of Kerry, Kennedy and Franks. Is it the water or what?

It's the drugs.

[particle]

For example, more than 60 guns seized following a shootout among factions of the Tijuana cartel in April 2008 were traced to purchases in Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia and Denver, McMahon said.

Any idea what kind of guns, and their mode of fire, were seized? Were all 60 full-auto battle rifles? Or was there one or two full-auto battle rifles that were legally purchased and stolen from a permit-holding gunowner, with the other 30-50 being revolvers/pistols, and another 10-20 scatter guns, with maybe a few semi-auto rifles thrown in for good measure?

[gemini]

Maybe, just maybe, if we had been enforcing our immigration laws, the straw sales in
those cities would never have happened. Maybe, just maybe, if we had been enforcing
our immigration laws the Mexican drug cartels wouldn't have so many American cities
in a strangle hold. Maybe, just maybe, the Mexican street gangs infesting American
cities wouldn't be such a major problem. Maybe, just maybe, the swine-flu wouldn't be
tracking directly up I-35. Seems to me the problem should / could have been prevented.
Sorry for the slight vent, I kind of got off topic. How is Napolitano & Holder going to prevent
China, Russia, and rebel factions from the countries south of Mex from selling all these naughty
weapons, explosives etc. to the Mex drug cartels? Send the troops, seal off the border, start
mass deportations of illegal aliens from this country. That would be a start.......
What does Kerry, Frank, Reid etc etc really know about Texas? Our southern border? They
only know that's where a lot of their voter base is originating. Drop all the PC. Enforce the
laws already on the books.