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A strict ban on military calibers and military style guns. Only one gun store in the entire nation. Onerous licensing requirements for legal gun owners. Long prison terms for illegal possession of even a single round of illicit ammo. That sounds like utopia to America’s gun control advocates, right? Yet this describes the state of civilian gun ownership in Mexico.

Unfortunately all of that gun control means that only criminals, drug cartels (but I repeat myself) and corrupt government officials have guns. Most of the rest of Mexicans cower in fear.

And they have good reason to do so. After all, murder in Mexico has almost become a national sport of sorts.  Last year, the nation had a record 33,341 homicides. That number reflects a steep increase over the (record) 29,168 murders in 2017.

What’s worse, this year, Mexico’s bad boys have worked hard to kill even more people. In fact, murders are up 3.3% from last year. Bloomberg has the news via Yahoo:

Mexico’s homicides in August show the nation remains on pace to break last year’s record, while a national poll showed President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s approval falling as the economy teeters on the brink of a technical recession.

Murders rose 3.3% in the first eight months of the year to 23,063 from 22,316 last year, according to government data released Friday. The August toll rose to 2,966 from 2,954 in the same month a year ago.

Clearly — as we’ve said here hundreds of times — gun control doesn’t stop criminal violence.

For an up-close and personal look at some recent cartel violence in Mexico, click here for this story from Noreste (NSFW, extremely graphic violence).

Strict, Betoista–style gun control makes resistance to tyranny — or just protecting your own family, much more difficult.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

88 COMMENTS

  1. On paper the Republic of Mexico should be one of the cleanest and safest and most human/civil rights respecting places on Earth, at least according to their Constitution and laws.

    Funny how reality doesn’t respect such things.

    • This is a prime example of what happens when 99% of a governing body and law enforcement is for sale to the highest bidder (Cartels in Mexico, Soros and Bloomberg in the U.S.)
      23000 gun related MURDERS in a population of 125000000 with strict gun control laws and bans on ARs/AKs. VS. less than 15000 gun related HOMICDES in the U.S. with a population of closer to 340000000 (incudes estimated illegals) VS a TOTAL of all gun related deaths of around 39000 in the U.S. (Mexico total gun related death count is apparently classified) It takes up to 18 months to get a permit just to buy a gun in Mexico.. So what does a truely effective gun control law look like in the U.S.? Damned if I know…

    • Communism looks good on paper too.

      “Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me.” George Orwell, 1984

    • And all the experience of Mexico will be coming soon to California, New Mexico, and Texas once President AOC rights the historic wrongs and returns the states to their former owner.

      And then the new historical claims will move north to Washington, Montana, and Indiana.

    • Words on paper mean nothing. Much of South America has a Constitution nearly identical to the US. The difference is that it is full of South Americans. As Americans are replaced by South and central Americans expect the United States to look more and more like Latin America.

  2. I’ve heard that the biggest source of arms used in crimes in Mexico is from the US government, via the Mexican military, but I can’t find a reference for that. Anyone know?

    The old “90%” misrepresentation was that 89% of crime guns Mexico thinks come from the US private market, and send here for verification, actually check out as coming from the US private market, but that overall those are not anywhere close to the majority of guns used in crimes in Mexico.

    • Just Google image search “mexican cartel guns” or something similar and look at the guns seized. If you know anything about military weapons then you’ll notice A LOT of 40mm grenade launchers and grenades, RPG’s, SMG’s, and belt feds….. I’m not an expert, but I know enough to know it’s easier to get those from a corrupt government, than a U.S. gun store (re:*almost* impossible). Why settle for a $1000 AR-15 smuggled from a U.S. gun store when the cartel can buy $400 M4/M203 from a Mexican military officer on the take?

      • A lot of their arms are smuggled over the Guatemala border as well, not the US border. The biggest purchases here are ARs and Barret .50 BMGs (a status symbol).

    • That means Mexico needs better border guards.
      Open borders work both ways…illegals and drugs North and guns and money South

    • The same way they blame Indianas “lax gun laws” for the murder rate of Chicago. I always retort with, “can you explain why Indiana isn’t worse than Chicago, then.” Blank stares and incessant stuttering begin.

      • I don’t really know, but I would be willing to bet that the gangs in Indianapolis have shootings when others try to muscle in on their territory, very much like what happens in Chigago or other large city.

  5. Last year [2018], the nation had a record 33,341 homicides.

    Those are the homicides that Mexican law enforcement documented and the Mexican government was willing to admit.

    Something tells me that at least a few thousand more occurred of which Mexican law enforcement has no knowledge.

      • Potatoooo…potaahto, Cartel,…cops. What’s in a name, Romeo? My cousin lived in Mexico City 30yrs ago. Looks like nothing’s changed.

      • Especially when the police subcontract to the cartels.

        Did they ever find the student protesters who went missing?

        • Missing doesn’t matter, there are thousands of people missing in Mexico, most have probably been chopped up and buried in barrels of acid, the rest are slave labor at cocoa processing facilities and meth labs… There will never be a proper accounting of all the missing in Mexico…

    • a few? probably nearly double if anyone really looked into it…
      like the 11M illegals here…more like 20-25M

  7. Like a lot of countries Mexico needs a good old revolution to set things right. But it appears the population is unwilling to do so.

    • Start a revolution with what, rocks? That shit only happens in the movies. To quote Clint Smith “An armed man will kill an unarmed man with monotonous regularity.”.

      • Yeah, I guess the British Colonies should’ve just knuckled under to the world’s super power back in the day and been happy being subjugated. Those boots probably wouldn’t have tasted too bad! I bet you would’ve been a good bootlicker! DPH, anyone who wants freedom can get it. It might have a high cost but it’s worth it to your posterity. And regular Mexicans can get guns when they want to get them.

      • “Start a revolution with what, rocks?”

        Oh, *please*.

        With a simple rock, brick, or chunk of concrete, you get a gun from a cop or soldier.

        With a cop’s gun or a grunt’s carbine, you get *more* guns. Not long after, you have the tools for your revolution…

    • Unwilling is just the tip of the iceberg. The country has nothing compared to the unifying nationalism required for a successful revolution to overthrow both the government and cartels. Perhaps certain segments of the country could get enraged enough to the point of secession and the country could be Balkanized. But if that rage was there, it probably would’ve happened already.

    • Cartels would NEVER allow a citizen revolt, they would lose their source of free labor, their entertainment, and their cover…. Not gonna happen in Mexico…

    • You’re looking at the civilized version of the Aztecs.

      To make it like a first world country it needs to be full of first world people.

      • “To make it like a first world country it needs to be full of first world people.”

        If you watch clips of TV programs out of Mexico, and look at the leading politicians, you see Spaniards, not what is generally thought of as “Mexicans”.

        • And if you watch British TV you’d think the island was at least 50% college educated black men married to blondes.

          Media and reality are rarely related.

          • “Media and reality are rarely related.”

            You missed the point entirely. The rich and powerful in Mexico are not mestizo, mixed blood people we recognize most often as “Mexican”. If the leadership of a country reflects the character of its people, Mexico is an anomaly.

            The culture of the rich and powerful in Mexico is Spanish, European. The culture of the bulk of the population is not European. The Spanish introduced the concept of “the Patrón”, and it is alive and well throughout Latin America to this day. Which may account for why such a resource rich area remains generally poor.

  8. Oh, come on, don’t be so harsh! People passionately want civilians to be unarmed. If 33,000 people die as a result, that is okay as long it satisfies the passions of everyone else.

  9. Mexico is a rich country. They are oil rich. They have plenty of money. So why is it a shit hole nation?
    Because the government is corrupt, drug gangs run the rural areas, and the law abiding are disarmed.
    And no making drugs legal will not solve the problem. Drug cartels don’t believe in capitalism.

      • “Video Unavailable
        This video may no longer exist, or you don’t have permission to view it.”

    • Yes, actually, making drugs legal WOULD solve the problem. The biggest market for them is US. If we legalize, we’ll stop buying from illegal sources. Plus, the domistic illegal sources would no longer have to be illegal and would thus no longer need to burn down the inner cities over drug turf. Liberty, by the very definition of the word, literally reduces crime. The level of liberty hypocrisy in the gun community is just asinine. I guess cognitive dissonance is not just for leftists.

      • Plus it would instantly solve the overdose problem. Drugs would be manufactured in factories with standard ingredients, processes and quality controls. They would be labeled with a specific dosage just like all medications are in the US today.

      • only if you are willing to make ALL drugs legal…
        weed…meth…heroin…coke…ecstasy…molly…LSD…etc etc etc

      • No sir you are wrong. You see I grew up in california. And I use to hear the white Liberals Libertarians and the Left say, “if we could just make pot legal, there would be no need for the blacks to have guns”.

        The same was said in Colorado and Washington State before they made drugs legal. And AT THE SAME TIME began to take away everyone’s 2A civil rights. Only when white owned marijuana stores were being robbed did all of a sudden, the white potheads discover the right of civilians to own guns. Of course black pot deals have had their guns for decades now.

        It seems white people never thought they would be robbed of the thousands of $$$, in cash, they make in one day. Have these white drug dealers changed their mind? I don’t see any proof.

        White drug dealers have lots of legal money now. Have they donated to 2A groups in their states? If so how much? Are they lobbying the same pro legalization politician, their friends, who are also anti gun civil rights?

        I think these are very good questions.

        After years of shitting on gun owners now they want our help? I say show me the money. They have plenty of it. It would really help against Bloomberg and his $$$ millions.

        Also the drug cartels like raping children in front of their parents. They have a history of murdering the families of their business rivals. You sir are either a fool or a liar if you believe the cartels south of the border will put down their guns.

        As I said before the drug cartels don’t believe in capitalism. And I think potheads are some of the most anti-civil rights and racist people in the country.

        Your move next.

        • The arguement for legalized pot has been going on in Florida for about five years now (medical made it in 18 personal use will pass next year) and not once has the subject of gun ownership by any group of people even been remotely hinted at as being linked to the illegal sale or possession of marijuana…

        • to MADDMAXX
          Besides saying making pot legal would eliminate gun violence. They, the legalization crowd, also said “the government could tax it and make more money” “It would be a great way for the government to raise tax revenue.”

          I have never believed the drug legalization crowd believed in a smaller government. In fact I have never believed they believed in Liberty. They are just happy to smoke pot.

          In fact the pothead businesses moved out of high tax California to lower tax states like Colorado. Potheads do like to keep more of THEIR money. But potheads are socialist progressive in their political orientation. And they helped spread the “cancer of the gun grabber” to other formally “free states” And turned them in to “slave states”.

          If its a freedom argument then I say make make pot legal. But if you don’t want to take about personal responsibility and personal consequences. Then I believe you are a deceiver. A liar. And you are part of the problem we have in society.

          Here is a example of a pothead who doesn’t believe in personal responsibility or person accountability. And it would not surprise me if certain people on TTAG, don’t understand why he got into so much trouble.

          “PASSENGER GOES NUTS AND SMOKES WEED …
          Jet Makes Emergency Landing”
          https://www.tmz.com/2019/09/21/american-airlines-emergency-landing-passenger-smokes-weed/

          “Passenger on American Airlines flight claims he was on cocaine, seen smoking joint as plane is diverted: report”
          https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-american-airlines-flight-diverted-passenger-marijuana-20190922-srxxms3eajhafonzulgl7vc3ga-story.html

          https://www.foxnews.com/travel/american-airlines-emergency-landing-passenger-marijuana

          • (Here is a example of a pothead who doesn’t believe in personal responsibility or person accountability. And it would not surprise me if certain people on TTAG, don’t understand why he got into so much trouble.)
            Sounds like a modernized version of the 30s movie “Reefer Madness”….

      • We would be trading one problem for another. People will be using drugs even more than they do now and they cannot hold a job. This results in more theft and robberies. Yeah it would be great !

        • True. In addition, in CA, there are some cities that have placed such a high tax on legal marijuana sales, that long time users say its sometimes a wash between buying from their old reliable dealer and buying from a licenced seller.

          • Why would you buy state sponsored “heavily taxed” pot? How do they know where it came from? Do they keep DNA sample of every crop grown? All you need is a planter, a grow light and a large well ventilated closet (with a water source if you’re really lazy) you can turn two nice plants every three months.. In other words screw California and their taxes just grow your own, worried about getting caught? Don’t get stupid and “share” or try to sell your shit just keep your mouth shut and enjoy years of free smoking enjoyment…..

        • If using drugs was not illegal, then employers would have to allow you to work. Use of pot on off hours should not be a problem – just saying.

        • @rt66paul
          Funny thing, I recently saw a job a job posting for a cannabis packager.
          The requirements included passing a drug test which included cannabis.
          LoL.

      • Legalizing drugs in the US would solve a lot of problems, but not the problem of cartels. Do you know what the second most stolen and trafficked commodity is of the cartels? Fuel. Gas and Diesel. After that, people.
        The cartels deal in trafficking, whatever there is to traffic.

    • It is rich, but it is the legacy that the Spanish left behind, which basically amounts to rape, plunder, and corruption. Not everything is about money–values matter too, and unfortunately Latin America was infected by the values of the Spanish empire.

      Notice the difference between Anglo-America and Latin America. Very generally, the Anglo’s came to the new world to establish a new society and to break with the values of the society they left behind. The Spanish came to get rich, conquer, and rape.

      • Lol get out of here with that “muh evil conquistadors/europeans” bullshit. The Aztecs were cutting off women and childrens’ heads for their sun god or whatever when the Spaniards arrived. And now, 500 years later, they’re still doing it. They just worship a god of drug trafficking and corruption.

        • Except the land ownership, private property, and government organization isn’t from the Aztecs, it’s from the Spanish.

        • Dude, the Aztec’s were pretty horrible, but the Spanish were no saints either. And I am not drawing comparisons between the Aztecs and the Spanish. I am drawing comparisons between the cultural legacy of the Spanish who conquered Latin America and the Anglo Protestant’s who conquered North America.

          Really, I dont know what you are even talking about. The fact of the matter is that the Spanish thoroughly conquered Latin America and imposed its culture, values, and institutions as dominant and prevailing. Arguably, these features are still evident in Latin America today, as evidenced by widespread corruption and polarized societies. This is in contrast to North America that was settled by Protestant Anglo’s. So despite Latin America having wealth and natural resources, the cultural legacy left by the Spanish can partly explain the differences between Latin American and Anglo North America.

          The Aztec’s really have nothing to do with this, they were wiped out or intermixed, and through this inter-mixing a hybrid culture was created that retained some of the worst aspects of Spanish culture.

          So when people ask “how is Mexico so rich and full of resources, yet so violent, stratified, and corrupt?” One can argue that this is the cultural legacy that the Spanish left behind.

          Try reading a little more carefully next time.

        • Also dipshit, this is not about putting down Europeans, as if European’s were some monolith. I am drawing distinctions between two European cultures (Anglo and Spanish) to explain the difference their legacies left behind. Arguably one was good (Anglo) and the other was not so good (Spanish).

        • Dumb-ass, your racism is showing–simply based on the simple and reactionary argument you made. I hear these types of arguments from idiots who want to treat Europeans or White people as a monolith. However, I am no stranger to dumb and arrogant white dudes, considering my background. I am an American of Mexican descent, and a licensed attorney in California, which arguably has the most difficult bar exam in any state, so yes I am well versed in Second Amendment jurisprudence. Not only that, to get to where I am at I had to get through college and law-school–so yeah, I ran into lots of dumb and arrogant white dudes, from both sides of the political spectrum. From condescending white liberals who simply thought I was “misguided,” to conservative white-guys who called me a wetback, and hated the fact that I was proficient with firearms, athletic, and made better grades than them.

          I am very proud to be an American, and I realize that what makes America different from the rest of the world is our Bill of Rights and our belief in the Rule of Law. In light of this I have wondered what makes America different than Mexico, or most of Latin America for that matter. I have concluded that the difference is the culture, and more importantly, the values which underlie those cultures. Understanding this requires an understanding of history, which is what I am trying to bring to light. But no, you bring it down to some bullshit about the Aztec’s beheading people, as if that was relevant to my argument.

      • That explains why Spain is a third world shithole. Oh, wait… it isn’t. Maybe it isn’t the Spanish legacy, but the people who live there today. To prove or disprove your theory, compare how indigenous people live, even in reservations in Anglo areas, with how indigenous Spaniards live.

    • Your’re right. Mexico is a rich country compared to Canada. Canada should be poor: long winters, no sun, frozen lakes, thin topsoil in the north, Mexico: oil, warm weather, long sunny days, two fertile oceans and a canal not far to transport goods. Both were colonies. Both had wars.

    • So why is it a shit hole nation?

      Because it’s full of Mexicans. The character of a country’s government reflects the character of its people.

      • “The character of a country’s government reflects the character of its people.”

        But not ours, right?

        • The United States isn’t special and does not have magic dirt. As the founding stock of the country has been watered down, so to have the founding values. A double digits percentage of inhabitants here aren’t even paperwork Americans let alone heritage Americans.

          • “As the founding stock of the country has been watered down, so to have the founding values.”

            Does that mean the US is no different from s—hole countries? Or that a more correct statement is a country’s government reflects the majority of the people voting?

  10. It’s funny how the gun grabbers say we should be like Australia because of their strict gun laws. But they never mentioned Mexico which has even stricter gun laws. As for Mexico look how those strict gun laws turned out for them.

  12. Well Mexico’s murder problem are still the NRA’s fault because every single gun in the WORLD is tainted by them! Even if a huge proportion of those weapons used are stolen from government arsenals…. nope, still NRA’s fault.

  13. I spend quite a bit of time south of the border, and I’ve been going there for a few decades.
    It’s impossible to understand Mexico without understanding the relationship between Mexico, and Mexico City. It’s a city with a larger population than New York City, in a country with less than half the population. Mexico City is responsible for about a quarter of all of the wealth created in entire country.
    And it is grossly out of touch with the vast majority of the country around it. The laws and edicts of the federal district have little or nothing to do with the area it has jurisdiction over. Mexico City can pass whatever gun control laws it wants, but there’s little notice of it in Jalisco or Tamaulipas, much less Sinaloa.

  14. I’m thinking the murder #’s are far higher. Mebbe I’ll ask my Mexican neighbor about it(oh wait Eduardo can’t speak English😫). Muy BS…

  15. How is the body count divided between Mexicans actively involved in the drug business and Mexicans with no connection to it? I suspect it’s mostly the former but not exclusively so.

    Are drug dealers criminals because they sell drugs or do they sell drugs because they are criminals? I think it’s mostly the latter. Otherwise, the cartels would say, “Leave us alone and we won’t bother anyone.” And they would back this up by maintaining tight discipline within their own ranks. That would be a fantastic deal for Mexico. Billions of dollars brought into the economy and all of the pain and suffering kept north of the border.

    The War on Drugs is obviously an even bigger failure than was Prohibition. Instead, we should
    (1) Decriminalize use, possession and sale of all drugs by adults. Do prosecute for providing drugs to minors (same as for alcohol). Also prosecute purveyors of adulterated drugs the same as any other adulterated food or medicine.
    (2) Use the money saved from prosecution and punishment to provide treatment for those genuinely motivated to get clean and stay that way.
    (3) Continue to rescue victims of overdoses and adulterated drugs (even though that’s only a temporary solution.)
    (4) Prosecute all crimes the same whether the perpetrator was high or not.
    (5) For those who won’t get clean and end up dead, give them Darwin Awards and move on.

    • about time we tried something different
      remember one of the definitions of insanity?
      do something over and over and expect a different result?

    • “And they would back this up by maintaining tight discipline within their own ranks.”
      For generations this was true, but then, starting in the late 80s, that all fell apart. Huge drug wars, Massive public killings that included large numbers of Innocents.
      The cartels war with each other, and government involvement doesn’t really affect those wars. It’s like a lab, barking between two snarling wolves.

  16. Given the Democrat’s deep love for all things Mexican, I find it puzzling that they can’t be bothered to notice this prime example of gun control failure. I guess that was the whole point of Obama’s Fast and Furious debacle eh? To point the finger at us as their excuse.

    • I don’t believe they have a deep love for things Mexican. They just want their votes. They love them every 2 to 4 years. If you like/love someone you help them to protect themselves. That doesn’t mean throwing money at a community basketball center like they did in Chicago years ago.

  17. The anti-gun mob will tell you Mexico is an underdeveloped country, so we can’t expect anything else. The “real standard” is Europe and Japan.

    • “…Japan”

      Well turn this dump into a Japan and I’ll come to the table about firearm regulations.

      It’s amazing the harmony, peace, unity and longevity that can be achieved in an unapologetic high IQ mono-culture ethnostate isn’t it? From the smartest Asian to the dumbest North Sentinelese, people know this instinctively. Even some European states still realize the value in continued existence.

      Dasraycisss of course, but everyone outside of self hating/destructing Leftystan seems to know this.

      That’s why the future is China and Islam. They care about their values and culture existing, while people like Vlad Tepes can’t wait to give it up, enthusiastically, at every step, in order to gain temporary and false self satisfaction.

      • Just don’t pay any attention to what China is doing in it’s western provinces. China does not like Islam.

  18. Why do the Admins here allow rabid anti-gunners/retards/trolls to roam free, stirring up shit?

    I wonder if the Moms Demand websites allow pro-2A commenters? (lol of course they don’t)

    The Right loves to play “fair” when no one else does, and be righteous losers. That way they can pat themselves on the back marching to the gulag.

    • “Why do the Admins here allow rabid anti-gunners/retards/trolls to roam free, stirring up shit?”

      Freedom is too messy for some people.

  19. There is EXCELLENT firearms control in Mexico if only the cartels and military have them isn’t that control? The common people can’t kill each other.

  20. Some true story for you about guns and cartels and citizens and government stooges in Mexico:
    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cartel+land
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartel_Land
    http://cartellandmovie.com/

    Citizens rose up and armed themselves. What little guns they had they used to take guns from cartel soldiers and flunkies. It was working very well for a while but the cartels are not run by idiots. They quickly figured out they could infiltrate the citizen militias, corrupt them and take them over.

    Which is what happened.

    The corrupt government got involved. Forced the citizen militias to legalize under the banner of rural police auxiliaries. Gave them uniforms and official guns supplied by the government.

    Problem is, by that time the cartel infiltration had already succeeded. So all the government did was had the cartels new power and new guns, uniforms and radios.

    The Mexican militia leader was quite the character. A medical doctor and surgeon who built the militia after some relatives were killed by cartels. But he had a wandering eye, cheated constantly on his wife, who divorced him. He killed or had ordered killed an unknown number of suspected cartel guys, usually after torturing them for intel then putting them in the ground.

    It’s ugly down there, I’ll never cross that border ever again for love or money.

  21. As people point out here all the time, guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

    Gun control isn’t as good a predictor of crime as demographics is. Mexico could have the best gun laws and they would still be killing each other, just like they are now.

    Africans in the US have a high murder rate just like they do in Africa. Swedes in the US have a low murder rate just like they do in Sweden.

    The only thing the guns help with is stopping the high murder rates groups from attacking the low murder rate groups with impunity.

    • @KGM:
      Instead of banning guns in America, the use of the acronym, “LOL” should be banned on TTAG. After that, there are certain other acronyms frequently used by commenters on TTAG that will also have to go, but the list is too long to be enumerated here. The penalty for using those acronyms will be total banishment from not only TTAG, but also from the entire internet. Soon the acronym “TTAG” will be banned as well. Today America, tomorrow the English speaking world!!!

  23. I think the United States should send every last Democrat (Demon-Rat), and their anti-gun supporters (Republicans, too, if they hate guns so much)-including those anti-gun teenagers who already think they know everything-and ship their worthless behinds right on down there to Mexico. And no coming back! After all, they will feel soooo safe knowing that country implements the Utopian gun control they have been drooling over for so many years. Oh, sorry, forgive me, I was dreaming there, for a moment. It has always been “guns for me, but not for thee”.

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