Mexico calls for weapons crackdown

Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, appealed to Congress and the Obama administration on Tuesday to help prevent organized criminals in his country from illegally buying and smuggling weapons from the U.S.

Border violence related to drug, weapons and human trafficking has claimed thousands of lives in recent years. And with Mexico’s strict gun-control laws, law enforcement officials estimate that cartels are purchasing nearly all of their assault weapons and other guns from American vendors.

In Texas border towns alone, there are about 7,000 gun shops, Sarukhan said.

“Regardless of what I may think of the Second Amendment and regardless of whether I think you need to buy armor-piercing ammo to hunt deer or not, Mexico is not challenging the Second Amendment. That is a sovereign decision of Congress; that is a sovereign decision of the American people,â€