The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to rule on whether Mexico can hold U.S. gunmakers liable for firearms that wind up in the hands of violent Mexican drug cartels is a moment for America to reflect on what kind of neighbor it is, and what kind it should be.
Mexico says between 70% and 90% of the guns recovered at crime scenes within its borders were brought in by traffickers from the United States, where it is just too easy to buy guns. It has been estimated that from 200,000 to more than 500,000 firearms purchased from gun shows or private dealers in America are transported to Mexico every year.
Is that how America wants to be seen by its neighbors to the south — a place that spreads the tools of violence, crime and grief? A contributor to the deaths or disappearance of thousands of Mexicans?
It’s very difficult to legally buy a gun in Mexico. The country is not peppered with gun stores and dealers, and any purchase comes with paperwork and registrations that can take months. But that doesn’t stop the cartels from getting guns, including high-powered weapons. There are innumerable places in America where straw buyers can easily stock up on firearms and sell them to the cartels.
This is not an issue of gun rights in America. There are plenty of ways gun sales can be generally limited to those who will safely and legally own them. But in too many jurisdictions, it’s easy for criminals to buy any number of guns that end up across the border and perhaps traded to cartels for fentanyl and other illegal drugs that are shipped back north.
Too few states have followed Illinois, where there has been a concerted effort to find ways to reduce gun violence. Legislation that gun safety advocates hope to bring up in the General Assembly’s veto session would strengthen the requirement for reporting lost and stolen guns and require the safe storage of guns in households with someone under 18 (instead of 14 under the current law), someone at risk or someone who is not permitted to carry a gun.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld Mexico’s lawsuit in January, reversing a lower court, but it’s too soon to know where the U.S. Supreme Court will come down on the legal issues.
It’s not too soon, however, to know that the flood of weapons crossing the border into Mexico is a stain on America’s image.
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