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Some 7,667 people were killed in Mexico in the first quarter of 2018, up 20 percent on the same period last year, making it the most violent year in two decades, government figures showed Sunday.

In 2017, the figure stood at 6,406 violent deaths, according to the Mexican security services.

The worst month was March, when 2,729 people were killed, most of them shot dead. January’s figure stood at 2,549 murders, with another 2,389 in February.

The bloodshed follows a proliferation of gangs involved in drug trafficking, as well as stealing fuel, kidnappings, extortion and other criminal activities.
In 2017, a total of 25,339 people were killed in Mexico, the highest number since monitoring began 10 years earlier.

The violence comes as Mexico gears up for a July 1 ballot that will include presidential elections as well as a vote for the two branches of Congress and a number of local seats.

ajax18 wrote: Why is this so when Mexico has all but prohibited firearms?

ajax18 wrote:Some 7,667 people were killed in Mexico in the first quarter of 2018, up 20 percent on the same period last year, making it the most violent year in two decades, government figures showed Sunday.

Why is this so when Mexico has all but prohibited firearms?

Although Mexico has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, Mexican criminal organizations have no trouble buying firearms, which they use to control territory, extort business owners, and threaten citizens as well as members of the security forces. The consequences are lethal. In 2002, there were more than 2,600 murder investigations involving firearms. By 2016, that number had increased to nearly 13,000.

To stock their arsenals, Mexican criminal organizations exploit lax U.S. gun laws, relying in part on straw purchases.

Most of the weapons used by criminal groups in Mexico originate in the United States. Each year, an average of 253,000 firearms cross the border, the overwhelming majority of which come from the Southwest states of California, Texas and Arizona. From 2009 to 2014, more than 70% of firearms — nearly 74,000 — seized by Mexican authorities and then submitted for tracing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms came from the United States. Many of these guns were semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15 and AK-47, cartel favorites that Mexican citizens cannot buy legally.

To stock their arsenals, Mexican criminal organizations exploit lax U.S. gun laws, relying in part on straw purchases.

A "straw purchase" is when a person who is prohibited by federal law from buying firearms contracts a third party to buy them on their behalf. Because there is no limit on firearm transactions in many states, anyone who can pass a background check may buy multiple military-grade firearms in a single visit — which they can then pass along to criminals.

Sometimes firearms traffickers do not even have to lie to purchase a weapon. Although licensed U.S. firearms dealers must conduct background checks and maintain records, among other measures, unlicensed dealers at gun shows, flea markets and other private venues may sell guns without conducting a background check, inspecting a buyer's identification or documenting the sale in any way.

The business of violence can be highly profitable, and the American gun industry is cashing in, with U.S. sellers and manufacturers arming both sides of Mexico's conflict. Research from the University of San Diego has shown that half of U.S. gun dealers benefit financially from the U.S.-Mexico illegal gun trade, to the tune of $127.2 million in 2012.

MeDotOrg wrote:From a 2017 LA Times Article:

Although Mexico has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, Mexican criminal organizations have no trouble buying firearms,

Doctor CamNC4Me wrote:I don't really understand the point of Ajax's OP.

- Doc