U.S. Guns Trafficked to Mexico: Here’s What’s Happening
Published: January 11, 2023
Hundreds of thousands of guns are estimated to be trafficked from the U.S. to Mexico every year. One of the largest cross-border movements of illegal firearms in the world, this surge is so great that it has generated its own nickname: the River of Iron.
Trafficked guns almost always start out as legal before they are diverted into the black market. To better understand this problem, it is useful to know what gun trafficking is, how gun laws in the U.S. and Mexico differ, and what methods traffickers use to acquire firearms.
Gun trafficking defined: One of the most commonly cited definitions comes from the United Nations Firearms Protocol, the first legally binding instrument aimed at countering firearms trafficking on a global level. The Firearms Protocol defines “illicit trafficking” as:
“the import, export, acquisition, sale, delivery, movement or transfer of firearms, their parts and components and ammunition from or across the territory of one State Party to that of another State Party if any one of the States Parties concerned does not authorize it in accordance with the terms of this Protocol …”
Since the Protocol’s adoption by the U.N. General Assembly in 2001, more than 120 nations — including Mexico — have become a party to the protocol. The U.S. has not.
Military-grade weapons from the U.S. are frequently trafficked to criminal organizations in Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized five assault rifles and a handgun found hidden in a car at the Port of Nogales, Arizona, on December 26, 2022. Photo by CBP.
U.S. gun laws: In the U.S., anybody who meets a specific set of criteria can obtain a license to deal in firearms.
There were more than 52,000 gun dealers spread across the U.S. in 2020 — more than the number of McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Subway restaurants combined. They included some of the nation’s biggest retailers — such as Walmart and Bass Pro Shops — mom-and-pop shops, as well as individuals licensed to sell guns out of their homes.
In most U.S. states, a citizen who is legally eligible to own a firearm can visit a gun dealer and walk out the same day with a new weapon in tow.
While licensed dealers are required to conduct background checks, U.S. citizens can also buy guns online and at gun shows in what are known as private sales. Most states do not require private sellers to conduct background checks on their customers.
Mexico’s gun laws: While Article 10 of Mexico’s Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms, it specifies that federal law “will determine the cases, conditions, requirements and places” of gun ownership. Compared to the U.S., Mexico’s gun laws are much stricter:
There is only one gun store in all of Mexico where citizens can legally purchase firearms. It is run by the army and located on a heavily fortified military base in Mexico City.
Prospective gun buyers in Mexico must go through an application and screening process that can stretch on for months. If their paperwork is approved, there are still restrictions on the type and quantity of weapons they can buy. Ordinary citizens are limited to one handgun per household.
Private gun sales must be authorized by the Secretariat of National Defense, and the buyer and seller must appear in person — along with the weapon — to process the transaction.
Common methods in gunrunning:
Straw purchasing is one of the most common methods that traffickers use to obtain firearms. It is an unlawful practice in which a person buys a gun on behalf of someone else, typically for nefarious reasons. Traffickers rely upon straw purchasers to buy guns at U.S. gun shops, who in turn provide them to middlemen for smuggling across the Mexico border. The traffickers themselves may not be able to pass a background check to purchase firearms on their own, or they may not want a record tying them to the guns in case law enforcement later recovers them at a crime scene.
Buying guns repeatedly and in bulk. Straw purchasers and cross-border smugglers may buy multiple weapons over a short period of time. This is particularly common with AK- and AR-type military-style rifles, which U.S. authorities have called the “weapons of choice” for Mexican drug cartels. U.S. gun dealers are required to notify federal law enforcement when a person purchases more than one handgun in five consecutive business days. In an effort to combat the trafficking of assault weapons to Mexico, the U.S. in 2011 began requiring gun dealers in the four southwest border states — Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas — to also report multiple sales of certain rifles. Straw buyers sometimes stagger their purchases to avoid triggering this requirement.
Assembling guns from parts and kits. In the U.S., people have long been able to purchase the essential components for making guns at home. These components can be purchased as kits that allow buyers to build fully functioning firearms in minutes. Because the parts by themselves do not meet the U.S. legal definition of a firearm, they do not have to be serialized and can be purchased without a background check. This shortcoming in the law has resulted in a proliferation of untraceable “ghost guns,” not only in the U.S., but also in Mexico, where they have surfaced in the hands of cartels.
Using tunnels. Between 1990 and 2016, there were 224 tunnels discovered on the U.S.-Mexico border. While primarily used to send drugs north, these tunnels are also used to smuggle firearms, ammunition, and cash south.
Mexico Pushes Back: With illegal guns continually flowing in from the U.S. and fueling violence in Mexico, the Mexican government has decided to strike back against what it sees as a primary cause of the scourge. In 2021 and 2022, the government filed two lawsuits against the U.S. gun industry, accusing manufacturers and dealers of engaging in negligent business practices. A U.S. judge dismissed one of the lawsuits in September 2022, but Mexican authorities have said they intend to appeal the ruling. The other case — filed in October 2022 — is still making its way through the U.S. federal district court system.
On a Positive Note:In June 2022, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The legislation made gun trafficking and straw purchasing federal crimes with prison sentences of 15 years and up to 25 years, respectively. Prosecutors have already convicted at least one offender under this new law. Also, the Biden administration has attempted to crack down on ghost guns, issuing with a new rule that took effect in August 2022. The rule requires companies that sell do-it-yourself assembly kits to add serial numbers to key parts used to build the firearms, as well as to conduct background checks on their customers. There have been indications that companies have narrowly interpreted this rule and continue to sell unserialized kits online, but in late December 2022, federal regulators issued a directive attempting to curb this practice.
Author: Aline Shaban is an associate researcher at the Small Arms Survey and a contributing researcher for the U.S.-Mexico Double Fix Project. The views expressed here are her own and do not necessarily represent those of her employer.
