On Monday night, former Mexican President Vicente Fox spoke at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center on the inextricable economic bond between the United States and Mexico.
This bond extends beyond the realm of legal trade into underground drug and gun markets. The United States has very strict drug laws but loose gun laws. Mexico, on the other hand, has very strict gun laws but looser drug laws.
What is basically a prohibition of drugs in the United States and of guns in Mexico creates an extraordinary demand for the illicit products in each country — a demand addressed by drug cartels.
The morning of Fox’s speech in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story describing the cartels’ influence in Pennsylvania. Federal, state and local officials believe cartels are the top suppliers of drugs to the Philadelphia region.
In the immigration debate, the concern over Mexican cartels is well broadcasted by lawmakers, but it is rarely noted that the cause of their presence in the United States is the high demand for prohibited drugs.
Fox explained that the drug cartels use Mexico as a trade route for South American drugs. The Mexican cartels see a supply of drugs in places like Colombia and Argentina and a demand for drugs in U.S. cities like Philadelphia. Entrepreneurially, they step in and match demand with supply.
Like any organized crime group, drug cartels have an incredible demand for violence — a demand that Mexican gun laws cannot accommodate.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as of August 2012, there were more than 129,817 licensed gun dealers in the United States. Compare that to Mexico, where there is a grand total of one gun dealer.
In Mexico, the only gun dealership is located in the nation’s capital. The building that houses Mexico’s lone gun dealership has a second purpose as the headquarters of the Mexican army. To put that into perspective, that is as if the Pentagon was the one and only place to buy a gun in the United States.
It is nearly impossible to get a gun in Mexico, so drug cartels turn to some of the 129,817 U.S. gun dealers to feed their hunger for violence. Oftentimes, these arms are supplied through straw purchasers: people who pretend to buy a gun for themselves but are really doing so for someone else — in this case, members of the drug cartels.
Advocates of harsh immigration laws often point to drug cartel violence as a reason to tighten up the border, yet U.S. gun laws cause drug cartel violence — we are the cartels’ arsenal.
U.S. politicians have a bone to pick with Mexico: the drugs that are the vice of so many American citizens are coming from south of the border. Meanwhile, Mexican politicians ought to have a bone to pick with the United States: the guns that are used to murder so many Mexican citizens and government officials are coming from north of the border.
Recent political winds have caused Congress to take up gun control and immigration reform at the same time, potentially providing solutions to both the violence in Mexico and the drugs and cartels in the United States.
On the gun control front, the United States can begin to sever the supply of guns to drug cartels. By upping background checks for gun buyers — something that 92 percent of Americans support — straw purchasers would no longer be able to buy guns for cartels.
On the immigration front, the proposed border security funds would be best used to stop the flow of drugs, not people. The impact of the drug trade once it enters the United States is far more malicious than the impact of Mexican workers, who actually are a benefit to the American economy.
Congress should allocate federal funds to stop drugs at the border before they reach places like Philadelphia. Doing so will really fight the cartels — the thorn in the side of the U.S.-Mexico relationship that neither country will pull out.
If we want to help Mexico fight the war on drugs, we should stop arming drug lords because currently, our policies are just shooting us in the foot.
Adam Silver is a College junior and master of public administration candidate from Scottsdale, Ariz. His email address is adamsilver0601@gmail.com and you can follow him @adamtsilver. “The Silver Lining” usually appears every other Thursday.
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