US curbs Mexico border gun sales

12 July 2011 Last updated at 17:15 GMT US officials have said American guns are being funnelled into the hands of Mexican drug cartels Weapons dealers in the south-west US will be required to report large sales of some semi-automatic firearms to help stem the flow of weapons into Mexico.

Under a new US government rule, authorities must be contacted when more than two semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines are purchased.

The weapons are reportedly sought after by drug-trafficking organisations operating inside Mexico.

The rule will affect dealers in Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico.

The regulation will require dealers to contact the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) if one individual purchases more than two semi-automatic rifles, within a five-day period, that accept detachable magazines and use ammunition larger than .22 caliber.

The ATF first unveiled its proposal for the new rule in December 2010.

"The international expansion and increased violence of transnational criminal networks pose a significant threat to the United States," Deputy Attorney General James Cole said in a statement.

Mr Cole said the weapons targeted by the regulations are "highly sought-after by dangerous drug trafficking organisations and frequently recovered at violent crime scenes near the south-west border".

He added that the new rules would help authorities "detect and disrupt the illegal weapons trafficking networks responsible for diverting firearms from lawful commerce to criminals and criminal organisations".

Meanwhile, the the National Rifle Association has vowed to sue the Obama administration over the new regulation.

"They don't have the statutory authority to do it, and we'll file a lawsuit as soon as the first letters are sent" demanding the sales information from dealers, the NRA's legislative director Chris Cox told Politico.

Fast and Furious

The announcement comes amid an ongoing outcry over a botched operation to track the illegal movement of guns to Mexico.

Operation Fast and Furious saw US agents allowing hundreds of guns into Mexico illegally with the hope of tracking them to major arms dealers.

Kenneth Melson, acting head of the ATF, has come under pressure to resign over the sting carried out by an Arizona-based branch of the agency.

Mr Melson told members of Congress last week that he had not known about the operation until it became public and that the department of justice (DoJ) had tried to prevent him from co-operating with the inquiry.

President Barack Obama has said it would not have been "appropriate" for the ATF to allow weapons to be smuggled into Mexico.

In January, the Mexican government released figures suggesting that at least 34,612 people had died in drug-related violence in Mexico since December 2006.

There is speculation the figure may now have passed 40,000.

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Mexico-US border death sparks row

23 June 2011 Last updated at 10:01 GMT The shooting happened at a heavily patrolled part of the border Mexico's government has condemned the fatal shooting of a Mexican man who was allegedly throwing stones at US agents across the Tijuana-San Diego fence.

The Mexican foreign ministry said the use of firearms to repel stone-throwing was "disproportionate".

San Diego police said the man had struck one agent and was about to hit another when he was shot.

There have been several fatal border shootings in recent years, increasing the controversy over the use of force.

The shooting happened late on Tuesday near the San Ysidro crossing point between Tijuana and San Diego.

According to US authorities, three men were trying to get over the border when they were stopped by two agents.

Two of the men fled back across the fence and began pelting the agents with stones, they said.

When one of the officers was hit, the other opened fire.

Mexican police said the man, identified as Jose Alfredo Yanez, was shot twice and died on the Tijuana side of the border.

Serious injury

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on his Twitter account that he had raised the issue with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Guatemala, where both were attending a security conference.

"I demanded that those guilty be punished," Mr Calderon wrote.

The Mexican authorities and rights groups say the US Border Patrol uses excessive tactics to deter migrants.

"We simply cannot allow our law enforcement agents to use lethal force when confronted by rock throwers," said Kevin Keenan of the American Civil Liberties Union.

But the Border Patrol says rock attacks on its agents are frequent and capable of causing serious injury.

"Agents don't shoot their weapon unless they fear for their lives or the lives of their partners or innocent third persons," Justin De La Torre, acting assistant chief patrol agent in San Diego, told the Los Angeles Times.

In one of the most high-profile shootings, agents last June shot dead a Mexican teenager at the border crossing between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. The FBI concluded that the agent fired while fending off a rock attack.

This latest shooting is being investigated by the San Diego police and the FBI. The Mexican authorities are also conducting their own inquiry.

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