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easy gun purchases
CLAUDINE LoMONACO

Tucson Citizen

In mid-November, Mexican police Officer Alan Rodriguez caught a pair of armed bandits who had just assaulted a group of immigrants.

The assault took place in Sasabe, in Sonora, but the .38- and .22-caliber guns, as with most weapons used by border bandits, came from the United States. The two said they'd purchased them in Tucson.

Guns are largely illegal in Mexico and difficult for private citizens to attain. The application process can take years and includes an examination of a person's "moral character" and proven need for a gun.

So criminals turn largely to the United States with its more liberal gun laws.

"It's probably easier for some of these guys to acquire a weapon legally in the U.S. than it is to try to get one illegally in Mexico," said U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement spokesman Russel Ahr.

Ninety percent of the illegal guns traced in Mexico come from the United States, estimated Sig Celaya of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Arizona, Texas and California are the top source states.

Many of the guns that end up in Mexico are purchased at gun shows or pawn shops where there are no waiting periods, said Celaya. Criminals, or others not legally able to buy guns, often get them through "straw purchases" where someone else legally purchases the weapon and passes it along.

In 1997, then-President Clinton and then-Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo signed the Organization of American States Firearms Convention that would help slow the flow of illicit weapons into Mexico. The Senate has yet to ratify it.