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InnnnrcnATroN AND THE ECoNoMy
SENATOR KEVIN DE LEON
CHAIRMAN

California'sGun nd Am nition Pipeline to the Me an Drug rtels

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STATE CAPITOL, ROOM 5108 . SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 95814USA . TEL (916) 65I-4022. FAX (916)327-8817
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BACKGROUND Mexican drugtrafficking organizations alongthe U.S.-Mexico border havebeen terrorizing citizens bothcountries, thisviolence beingfueledby whatthe in and is federalBureauof Alcohol, (ATF)describes an Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as "ironriverof guns"-the flow of thousands illegalU.S.firearms Mexico. of to Sincethe startof Mexican President Felipe administrationDecember Calderon's in 2006,law enforcement in agencies Mexico haveconfiscated 102,600 handguns and rifles of March10,2011, grenades as and Mexican security forceshaveseized11,849 and 10.6million rounds ammunition. of Violence alongthe border hasescalated people significantly, over34,612 and havelosttheirlivesas a result organized of crimerelated violence. government fn May 2010,the Mexican statedthat of the 75,000illegal firearms seized in the lastthreeyears,approximately 80%-60,000 firearms-camefromthe United States. Estimates gunsflowingintoMexico of fromthe UnitedStatesare as highas per 2,000firearms day, and according ATF firearm to tracerequests from Mexico, it appears that a majority thesefirearms of havea nexusto the United States. Primary Gun Traffickingnoutes from the United Statesinto Mexico

*MapSource: "Firearms Trafficking: Efforts Combat U.S. to ArmsTrafficking Mexico to FacePlanning and (U.S. Coordination Challenges" Government Accountability June Office, 2009)
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gunvendors There an estimated are federally-licensed 8,479 operating along U.S.the purchasing" part Mexico border, several officials theproblem "straw and ATF cite of as of thescheme enables that firearms trafficking. alsonotes themostcommon ATF that method transporting of illegal firearms across border byvehicle the is using U.S. highways, thatan opportune to catch and time smugglers following gunshowin is a Arizona Texas. or Fof lowing expiration thefederal the of Assault Weapons in 2004, hasbecome Ban it easier purchase to high-powered assault weapons, United The States Department of (DOJ), guns Justice Office the lnspector of General reported 48o/o crime has that of recovered traced Mexico 2009 and in in werelongguns, from20o/o 2004, up in and recent dataalsoshows surge theseizure assault guns. a in rifles .50caliber of and According theATF,Mexican cartels to drug tendto favor military-style assault weapons pistols, suchasAK-47s, AR-15s, FN5.7mm and caliber known Mexico "cop in as killers" because canpierce they body armor. CALIFORN|A'S CONTROL GUN LAWS gun policies havecurbed illegal Overtheyears, California enacted control has that the purchase firearms, of including assault an weapons high-capacity ban, ammunition magazine Brady (including at ban, criminal background for checks allgunsales those gunshows), thestate purchase and DOJmaintenance of handgun records. addition, In Governor Brown recently Jerry signed Assembly 809(Feuer, Bill Ch.745, Statutes of 2011), which require California will the Department Justice alsoretain records of to the gunpurchaser of long information. Thelackof similar lawsat thefederal level andin other border states contributed has to the riseof firearms trafficking theU.S.intoMexico. from While illegal weapons are crossing California's border Mexico, stateis notconsideredtop"source into this a state" because mostof thefirearms recovered Mexico traced in and backto theU.S. not are purchased California. a federal enforcement originally in ln law analysis 2,921 of firearms seized between December andNovember 2006 2010, 50%of theguns were fromTexas,29o/o fromArizona, only3%wereoriginally purchased were and in California.

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Background Checks all Handgun for Sales GunShows at

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*MapSource: "Trace Guns: LinkBetween LawsandInterstate Trafficking" the The Gun (Mayors Gun Against lllegal Guns, September 2010) In additionto the traffickingof firearms,the illicittraffickingof ammunitionis fueling the proliferation gun violencealong the United States-Mexico of border. Each year,

hundreds thousands rounds purchasedtheU,S. of of are in from on-line retailers, biggun boxstores, shows, other and vendors, thenillegally and smuggled across the border Mexico, into Since there fewfederal state are and level restrictions whobuys on andsells ammunition, Mexican trafficking drug organizations virtually have unfettered access ammunition the United to from States. According ATF,over1.2million to rounds ammunition seized of were during course the of ATFjointor instigated investigations originating California, in Arizona, Texas, and years NewMexico, between fiscal 2006 through 1. Below a breakdown the 201 is of amount ammunition of into taken evidence ATFField by Divisions in located southwest border states believed be destined Mexico. and to for

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Rounds Ammunitlon of Selzed ATF by Destlned Mexico far from2006*2011

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Herein California, Assembly 962(DeLe6n, 628,Statutes 2009) Bill Ch. of enacted the first-in{he-nation statewide provides regulation ammunition. measure of This law enforcement important in combating with tools crime making illegal knowingly by it to persons those sellhandgun ammunitionprohibited to gang or subject a to injunction (targeting purchasers), straw requiring ammunition vendors keeprecords who to of purchases handgun ammunition, requiring face-to-face transactions purchases for made the Internet mailcatalog prevent via or to circumventionthepurchaser of data collection, requiring and behind counter the storage ammunition deter of to theft. However, January on 2'1,2011, State the Superior Court Fresno in County issued an injunction Parker Sfafe California enjoin implementation enforcement in v. of to the and of AB 962.Theappeal theCalifornia by pending. Attorney General currently is CURRENT STATE ANDLOCAL EFFORTS fn February 2010, California Emergency (CalEMA) the Management Agency was grant awarded $3.3million a funded through federalAmerican the Recovery and Reinvestment of 2009(ARRA) create Firearms Act to the Trafficking Force Task (FTTF)-apartnership force task thatincludes California California the DOJ, Highway
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(CHP), Diego Patrol San County Sheriffs Department, lmperial and County Sheriff's Department. group This works collaboration thefederalATF identify in with to and prosecute firearms traffickers. one-time This federalgrant slated fundthetask is to forcefor2 lz years, endsJune30,2012. and At thelocallevel, various enforcement law agencies engaged efforts curb are in to firearms trafficking other and crimes havea "border that nexus" suchas drugtrafficking. Forexample, SanDiego the County Sheriffs Department spearheads Operation (OPSG), Stonegarden which coordinates local 17 andstate enforcement law agencies working an integrated in approach combat multi-faceted to the aspects border-related of grant $5.5million crimes.In 2008, program this received initial its of fromthe U.S. (DHS), wassubsequently DepartmentHomeland of Security and allocated million $13.7 in 2009 $8.9 and million 2010. in TheSanDiego grant Sheriffs Department received one-time million also a fromthe $5 U.S.DOJunder ARRAin 2009 help to funda Border Crime Suppression Team(BCST), patrols address which conducts ongoing targeted to crimes based border-related on threat intelligence. Currently, is nosustained there funding source identified this for operation beyond 2010. FY DEVELOPMENTS THEFEDERAL AT LEVEL ln Jufy2011, U.S.DOJannouncednewfederal policy willrequire federal the a that all firearms licensees thesouthwest in border states Texas, of Arizona, Mexico, New and California submit report ATFwhenever individual purchases or more to a to an two rifles, including assault rifles, within business five days.Thisreporting already was purchases, thisexpanded required multiple for policy nowalert handgun and will ATFto potential straw buyers arepurchasing numbers semi-automatic that that large of rifles havedetachable magazines a caliber greater and of than.22. TheATFestimates that thispolicy generate will 18,000 reports annually. TheSenate Judiciary Committee theHouse and Oversight Government and Reform Committee jointly are investigating controversial the tactics usedin theATF'sPhoenixbased Operation andFurious, Fast which U.S.DOJhasacknowledged the is linked to illegalweapons havebeenrecovered crime that at scenes boththe United in and States Mexico, U.S. Attorney General Holder alsoordered U.S.Inspector Eric has the General to conduct independent an investigationthisprogram. of Launched 2009, in Operation andFurious, Fast modeled a similar off 2006program (Operation WideReceiver) thetactic selling used firearms suspected of to strawbuyers andthendeliberately allowing these weapons "walk" to across border the the with intention tracking gunsto Mexican cartels. of theapproximately of the drug Out 2,000 firearms illegally that entered Mexico, several hundred werenotintercepted their and whereabouts became unknown. There nowimmense is scrutiny thisfailed of strategy, andthefederal investigations thisprogram ongoing. into are

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RECENT REPORTS STUDIES AND . HaltingU.S.Firearms Trafficking Mexico, to Report Senators by Dianne Feinstein, Charles Schumer Sheldon and Whitehouse theUnited to States Senate Caucus lnternational on Narcotics Control, 2011. June Outgunned: Enforcement Law Agents WarnCongress TheyLackAdequate Toolsto Counter lllegalFirearms Trafficking, Minority StaffReportPrepared for Ranking Member Elijah Cummings, E. Committee Oversight Government on and Reform, 2011. June

o Update U.S.Firearms on Trafficking Mexico, to Colby Goodman, Woodrow Wilson lnternational Center Scholars-Mexico for Institute, 2011. April o Q.S.Firearms Trafficking Mexico:NewDataand lnsights to llluminate Key Trends Challenges, and Colby Goodman Michel and Marizco, Woodrow Wilson International Center Scholars-Mexico for Institute, Septembe 0. r 201 o Firearms Trafficking; U.S. Efforts CombatArmsTrafficking MexicoFace to to Planning Coordination and Challenges, Government U.S. Accountability Office (GAO), June 2009. . lron River: GunViolence lllegalFirearms & Trafficking the U.S.-Mexico on Border, Violence Policy Center, April2009.

o Exporting GunViolence: HowOur WeakGun Laws Arm Criminals Mexico in and America, Report the Brady A by Center Prevent Violence, to Gun March 2009,

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