Inquirer Editorial: Pushing guns

Too many Americans look down their noses at Mexico, saying it is incapable of controlling the violence that stems from its illegal drug trade.

Not only does that attitude ignore the fact that the drug lords wouldn't thrive without the lucrative U.S. market, it also ignores that the drug dealers are largely armed with American guns.

A new report concludes that about 70 percent of the guns seized in Mexico and submitted to a U.S. gun-tracing program came from the United States.

Using figures provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the report said that out of 29,284 guns recovered in 2009 and 2010 by authorities in Mexico, 15,131 were U.S.-made, another 5,373 were foreign-made but brought from the United States, and the other 8,780 were of "undetermined origin."

So, yes, the United States is funding the lavish lifestyles of Mexican drug lords and flooding Mexico with the guns the drug kings use against each other and anyone else who gets in their way.

Mexicans are understandably angry that most Americans seem not to care about the role this country plays in Mexico's drug wars, which have claimed more than 35,000 lives in the past five years.

The Washington Post reported on a speech Saturday in San Jose, Calif., by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who accused U.S. weapons manufacturers of helping to cause the deaths. "It is for profit, for the profits that it makes for the weapons industry," he said.

Certainly, primary responsibility for correcting Mexico's problems lies with Calderon and his government. But he's right in saying tighter U.S. weapons-sales laws would help not only that country but also our own. That's not to mention what reducing this country's appetite for illegal drugs would do.