Sensible gun and drug laws would benefit two countries

There's a sad international trade taking place on our southern border these days and it involves guns and drugs. Mexico supplies the drugs which pay for the guns. The United States supplies the guns. Both countries supply the victims.

The War on Drugs has become almost a real war in Mexico. Well over seven thousand people comprised mostly of police officers, drug gang members, and a few innocent bystanders, have died horrific deaths in that country since January 2008, and American guns are providing the killers the means to kill.

Why do Mexicans drug lords rely on the U.S. for guns? From New American Media:

Mexico has strong gun control laws. In a country of 110 million people there are fewer than 6,000 legally-registered guns…Making matters worse is the refusal of American officials to be on the same page.

Mexican drug lords prefer the military-style weapons that were banned in the U.S. until 2004, when Congress let the Federal Assault Weapons Ban expire. But rather than reinstating the ban and infuriating the National Rifle Association, congressmen are spouting inanities like:

"I don't think the solution to Mexico's problems is to limit Second Amendment gun rights in this country," said Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican.

No, it is far better for the federal government to spend millions of dollars trying ineffectively to control gun smuggling at the U.S. - Mexican border than to sensibly regulate the killing machines nationwide like Mexico does successfully.

The money to buy the guns comes from the high price Mexican drugs can demand inside the United States. Visiting Mexico yesterday, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton put it bluntly, “Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade.”

Unfortunately, this demand also puts a large number of Americans in jail. Over half of the federal prison population is locked up on drug-related charges.

So, do I have this right? Our strict drug laws result in crowded prisons but nonetheless, Americans still consume more than half of the world’s illegal drugs. We have weak gun regulation and we are also the most armed country in the world. Mexico exploits both of these problems to its own detriment.

Considering these sad facts, I think it is past time to take another look at how we control two of our most deadly substances, drugs and guns. We are failing miserably at both and the U.S. and its southern neighbor are both paying a huge price.