Are Lax U.S. Gun Laws Fueling Mexico's Drug Violence? | Ted Galen Carpenter | Cato Institute: Commentary

Are Lax U.S. Gun Laws Fueling Mexico's Drug Violence? | Ted Galen Carpenter | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Although some of the weapons the drug cartels use do have their origins in the United States, the sources are not sporting goods stores or gun shows. Many of those weapons come from military depots that the United States government helped fill for friendly Central American regimes during the Cold War. Washington was so concerned about Soviet penetration of that region during the 1980s that it sent shipment after shipment of high-powered weapons to the governments of such countries as El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala to use against left-wing insurgents. Records indicate that in addition to rifles, at least 300,000 grenades were sent to the region during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Many of those grenades found their way to the drug cartels through a lucrative black market. Tighter U.S. firearms laws have no relevance to that problem."