La redacciónMÉXICO, D.F., 16 de diciembre (apro).- El influyente diario neoyorquino The New York Times condenó hoy la “permisividad” de las leyes estadunidenses que facilitan la venta de armas a los cárteles mexicanos, y deploró la “sumisión” del Congreso de Estados Unidos ante el cabildeo de la industria armamentista.
En su editorial, titulado “Pistoleros de los cárteles compran en Estados Unidos”, el diario critica que en los últimos cuatro años los distribuidores estadunidenses han vendido más de 60 mil armas de alto poder a los pistoleros de los cárteles mexicanos de las drogas.
Además, critica la sumisión del Congreso “cautivado” por el cabildeo de la industria de las armas: “No ha hecho nada acerca de un vacío legal que faculta a los distribuidores a hacer múltiples ventas de rifles AK-47 y otros fusiles de asalto sin tener que informar a las autoridades federales, como requiere la ley.”
No es extraño que en un solo día un distribuidor se sienta con la libertad suficiente para vender 14 rifles AK-47, reprocha.
El diario critica que el cabildeo de la industria armamentista ya convenció a un “sumiso” Congreso de que las armas de alto poder que venden no son las que usan los delincuentes, por lo que tienen que tener una excepción para su venta porque las utilizan los “deportistas”.
Sin embargo, agrega, las cifras de la lucha contra las drogas en México está demostrando lo contrario: en los últimos cinco años se duplicó el uso de armas largas, debido a la facilidad de los sicarios de conseguirlas a lo largo de la frontera.
Una razón, señala el diario, es que no se exigen informes de ventas sobre los fusiles de asalto en la frontera. Sólo en “Texas, el tráfico de armas está al rojo vivo”, advierte, pues ocho de los principales comerciantes de armas se encuentran asentados en esa zona de la frontera.
The New York Times critica también que las leyes estadunidenses sean demasiado permisivas y faciliten la venta al por mayor de armas de asalto a los cárteles mexicanos.
Con un congreso dominado por los republicanos y el temor de los legisladores demócratas ante el cabildeo de la industria armamentista, hay pocas expectativas que se aprueben leyes “valientes” para cerrar esa brecha legislativa.
Sin embargo, considera que Barack Obama, el presidente de Estados Unidos, tiene la posibilidad de emitir un decreto.
"Si lo que se requiere es una orden ejecutiva para poner fin al baño de sangre, el presidente Obama no debe vacilar en hacerlo", dice el Times. (Traducción Jorge Pérez Albarrán)
Published: December 15, 2010
As the body count in the Mexican drug wars mounts beyond 30,000, federal authorities have tracked more than 60,000 guns in the past four years back across the border to American dealers. Congress, enthralled with the gun lobby, has done nothing about a legal loophole increasingly at the heart of the carnage — the dealers’ freedom to make multiple sales of AK-47s and other battlefield assault rifles without having to report to federal authorities, as the law requires for handgun sales.
No wonder one dealer felt free to sell 14 AK-47s to one trafficker in a single day.
The gun lobby previously convinced an obeisant Congress that “long guns” like military rifles and shotguns were not favored by criminals and deserved a pass at dealers supposedly catering to sportsmen. But the drug war toll is proving otherwise, with use of high- power long guns more than doubling in the past five years as cartel gunmen turn to the rat-a-tat annihilators easily obtainable across the border.
A big reason for that preference is the failure to require reports on multiple rifle sales, according to a new inspector general’s report at the Justice Department. In Texas, the traffic is white hot. Eight of the top 12 dealers in Mexican crime guns are nestled profitably near the border, according to The Washington Post, which spent a year penetrating some of the data secrecy that Congress has enacted to protect the gun industry.
With a more Republican Congress in the wings and Democratic lawmakers openly fearful of the gun lobby’s political clout, there is no expectation of courageous legislating to close the loophole. But executive order is another possibility. It has enough traction lately among Justice Department officials to prompt a “grass-roots alert” by the National Rifle Association to its four million members, according to The Post.
It is hard to believe that most ordinary N.R.A. members would not agree something must be done about the cross-border sale of war weapons that underpins the drug scourge. If it takes an executive order to cut the carnage, President Obama should not hesitate.
No wonder one dealer felt free to sell 14 AK-47s to one trafficker in a single day.
The gun lobby previously convinced an obeisant Congress that “long guns” like military rifles and shotguns were not favored by criminals and deserved a pass at dealers supposedly catering to sportsmen. But the drug war toll is proving otherwise, with use of high- power long guns more than doubling in the past five years as cartel gunmen turn to the rat-a-tat annihilators easily obtainable across the border.
A big reason for that preference is the failure to require reports on multiple rifle sales, according to a new inspector general’s report at the Justice Department. In Texas, the traffic is white hot. Eight of the top 12 dealers in Mexican crime guns are nestled profitably near the border, according to The Washington Post, which spent a year penetrating some of the data secrecy that Congress has enacted to protect the gun industry.
With a more Republican Congress in the wings and Democratic lawmakers openly fearful of the gun lobby’s political clout, there is no expectation of courageous legislating to close the loophole. But executive order is another possibility. It has enough traction lately among Justice Department officials to prompt a “grass-roots alert” by the National Rifle Association to its four million members, according to The Post.
It is hard to believe that most ordinary N.R.A. members would not agree something must be done about the cross-border sale of war weapons that underpins the drug scourge. If it takes an executive order to cut the carnage, President Obama should not hesitate.
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