The surge of illegal guns in Mexico...

Once again, here is another American article claiming that there is unstoppable flow of guns coming into Mexico. A fair number of these weapons (the dreaded 90% "fact" is being thrown around again) are apparently coming from the U.S. where it is "easy to buy 9mm handguns and .50 caliber sniper rifles capable of shooting down helicopters." Obviously the author of this Washington Post article is unfamiliar with American gun law, and just how difficult it is to acquire military grade weapons, especially when particular military weapons -- such as the automatic assault rifle or .50 caliber rifle -- can't be legally sold in most states.

The article goes on to talk about eTrace -- a program that allows officials to track the origins of a weapons by imputing information (such as make, model, and serial number) into a database. This program was given to the Mexican government by the ATF a few years back, but Federales have spent most of their time trying to translate the software into Spanish, thus proving it has been a waste of time and money. In addition, and rather unfortunately, the author and the creator of the program negate the "common sense" fact that most firearms used by criminals no longer have their serial numbers, thus making it nearly impossible to trace them. Furthermore, only legally manufactured weapons have serial numbers, and thus the program would do little trace firearms assembled from multiple kits or manufactured abroad/illegally.

The situation involving firearm trafficking in Mexico is not black and white. There are no clear cut answers, as no easy remedy will be found that will permanently eliminate illegal weapons trafficking. Furthermore, it is important for American and Mexican officials to remember that the leaders of dreaded DTO's are extremely well trained and educated, and therefore, should not be underestimated.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon proposes reform to eliminate Mexico's 2,000 local police depts

According to the LA Times, Felipe Calderon proposed a plan yesterday to the Mexican Congress that could potentially revamp the nation's police system by completely doing away with city/municipal police forces.

According to the proposal, management of the country's police system would be shifted over to the 31 states of Mexico. The the nation's 2,000 municipal police department would no longer be needed, and thus would be eliminated.

This "unified command" concept would make it easier to weed out corruption, as a standardized form of police officer testing could be applied nation wide. Mayors would also hold less sway over departments as well, as they would no longer fall under their authority. In addition, police would be trained and equipped according to a federal level, and not a state one. This would aid in alleviating the issue of under-trained and under-equipped departments, particularly ones in underdeveloped areas with either small or non-existence police forces.

However, many are skeptical of the plan, including many of Mexico's mayors, who argue that the plans points the blame of police corruption at them. Furthermore, experts warn that concentrating police authority at the police level could potentially make it easier for DTO's to control entire states via bribes or intimidation of state commanders.

Though the plan has it pros and cons, there aren't many other plans that constructively address the issue of police corruption. This plan places most control at the federal level, increasing the amount of direct communication between the government and police forces, thus in my opinion, decreasing the chance of there being differences in agenda.