Say it with us: No more U.S. guns for the cartels!

U.S.-made guns empower cartels, fuel violence, and drive the fentanyl crisis.

Pamela, U.S. gun laws are weak. Mexican drug cartels exploit those weaknesses. What's that equal? A flood of firearms.

But while Trump officials mull sending U.S. troops to fight cartels in Mexico[1] — a move likely to unleash untold levels of violence and suffering on both sides of the border — Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Joaquin Castro offer a genuine way to curb cartel power and corruption: the Stop Arming Cartels Act.

This bill cracks down on the unlicensed gun market that pumps a deadly pipeline of up to 500,000 U.S.-made guns to cartel hands each year. In a recent study, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) traced nearly 70% of guns recovered at Mexican crime scenes back to U.S. gun manufacturers or importers.[2]

This deadly 'iron river' of guns fuels cartel warfare, migrant smuggling, and a fentanyl crisis that has devastated families across the country — and, Pamela, it's time to dam it up.

This bill isn't just about stopping international crime. It's about keeping people, on both sides of the border, safe. It deserves bipartisan support. It's the kind of legislative solution that families, particularly those who have been directly impacted by addiction and a failed war on drugs, are heading to the Hill to lobby for. Win Without War will join them, alongside the Drug Policy Alliance and the Washington Office on Latin America, later this month — and you have a key role to play too.

Every weapon smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border strengthens cartels and makes us all less safe. Tell your members of Congress: Co-sponsor and pass the Stop Arming Cartels Act (H.R.923/S.367) to stop the 'iron river' now.

ACT NOW

Mexico's cartels indeed have heavy firepower. But what might surprise you is that Mexico only has ONE gun shop. It sits in the middle of a heavily guarded military base.

That means the cartels look elsewhere for their guns — but lucky for them, lax U.S. gun laws keep them readily available.

That includes their weapons of choice: Powerful .50-caliber rifles. These assault weapons are capable of downing military helicopters and ripping armored vehicles to shreds. The kicker? These military-grade guns can't be bought legally in Mexico ― they come from sellers in Texas, Arizona, and beyond.

Whether it's mass shootings here or cartel assassinations in Mexico, one thing is clear: An unchecked flow of firearms makes everyone less safe. It's why the Mexican government has sued U.S. gun makers in a case recently heard before the Supreme Court.

SCOTUS seems unlikely to hold gunmakers responsible. That's why, if we want to be serious about curbing the cartels' reign of terror, we should start with H.R.923/S.367.

Whether it's a bullet fired by a cartel assassin, a gun used to traffic fentanyl, or a weapon in the hands of criminals overseas there's a terrifying chance it was purchased legally in the United States. That needs to stop. The Stop Arming Cartels Act is the strongest effort yet to shut down the iron river of guns flowing from our country into the hands of cartels.

With both houses of Congress controlled by Republicans, we know we face an uphill fight. The upshot is that if we build enough power to send it to Trump's desk, he's all the more likely to sign it. Let's start building power to do just that, today.

U.S. guns will keep ending up in the hands of cartels — until Congress stops it, so let's build support for the Stop Arming Cartels Act today! Speak out now and help build the kind of pressure capable of halting the deadly export of U.S. guns.

The United States has an ugly history of fueling instability and violence in the western hemisphere. Parents who've either lost a child to fentanyl use or are supporting a child managing addiction are alarmed that politicians would choose more war and crackdowns on basic rights to address the overdose crisis when common-sense solutions that can actually help ALL our families exist.

Together, we can demand a better way forward and keep people safe by stopping U.S. guns to drive violence in vulnerable communities beyond our southern border.

Thank you for working for peace,
The Win Without War team

1. The New York Times, "Trump Says He Asked Mexico to Let U.S. Military In to Fight Cartels" (gift link)
2. Everytown, "Damming the Iron River: Solutions to Stop the U.S. Gun Industry from Fueling Mexico's Violence"

 

 

 

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