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| The Puenta Santa Fe to Texas |
As readers know, this is just across the border from El Paso, Texas. Recently we watched a documentary on the BBC channel about the drug cartel wars in Mexico which identified Ciudad Juarez as the most violent city in Mexico, and although homicides have fallen markedly since the peak in 2010, last year the rate was still 33.1 per 100,000. Across the border in El Paso it was a mere 2.4 in 2013. It is a prime point of passage for drugs going north and guns (and money) going south. The reporter asked a US Customs and Border Protection agent where they had found drugs in cars coming from Mexico. He replied that it would be easier to list places where they hadn't found them. She also asked an ATF agent about guns going south and she was shown a big room of confiscated firearms. About 90% of guns used in shootings in Mexico have been traced by serial numbers to the U.S.
It is illegal for ordinary residents in Mexico to have guns, while in El Paso those with clean records can buy pretty much anything they like, indicating that it is not gun ownership as such, but willingness to commit crimes that causes the problems.
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