Political Quotes

“last month, Mexican President Felipe Calderon addressed a joint session of Congress, highlighting the dangerous role that American-made firearms play in the violence currently plaguing both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. President Calderon drew a link between the 2004 expiration of the U.S. federal assault weapons ban and a subsequent surge in violence in Mexico. In his speech, President Calderon urged Congress to reinstate a federal ban on assault weapons, a call I have long supported. By exploiting weak U.S. gun laws and corrupt gun sellers in the United States, Mexican drug gangs have amassed arsenals of military-style assault weapons. These guns have been used to kill thousands in Mexico and pose a grave and growing security threat to Americans north of the border. Mexican law enforcement officials increasingly are being out-gunned by drug gangs bearing military-style assault weapons, .50 caliber sniper rifles and other high-powered weapons that originate in the United States. Using trace data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO, determined that from fiscal year 2004 to fiscal year 2008, over 20,000, or 87 percent, of firearms seized by Mexican authorities originated in the United States. Additionally, the GAO reported that the number of assault weapons within this total continues to grow.”