Guns smuggled from the U.S. fuel bloodshed in Canada

The United States is to Canada what Mexico is to the United States: the reason for border trouble. We get illegal immigrants smuggled from Mexico; Canada gets illegal guns smuggled from us.

But who, pray tell, gets the worst of it?

Much is made about the impact of illegal immigration on states along the southern U.S. border. But what about the impact of illegal weapons making their way into the country to our north?

Smuggled firearms from the United States are fueling bloodshed in Canada. A couple of sentences from a story in The Post this week by William Marsden said it all: “Homicides in Toronto spiked to 80 in 2005, from 64 in 2004, and the majority were shooting-related. About 70 percent of the guns used were handguns and automatic weapons smuggled from the United States, police said.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/an-american-export-canadians-dont-want-illegal-guns/2016/02/19/b65d7b72-d69a-11e5-be55-2cc3c1e4b76b_story.html?utm_term=.c240a691f5da

Mexico Gun Trafficking Benefits Nearly 50% US Dealers: Study

A new study found that nearly half of United States firearms dealers are economically dependent on demand from Mexico, while under 15 percent of illicitly trafficked arms are seized at the border, highlighting the US role in Mexican gun violence.

The study, titled "The Way of the Gun: Estimating Firearms Traffic Across the U.S.-Mexico Border," aimed to quantify the US role in feeding Mexico's gun violence, which continues to rise despite tight gun control policies and a lack of arms manufacturing in Mexico.

Researchers found that from 2010 to 2012, approximately 46.7 percent of US firearms dealers depended on business from the US-Mexico gun trade for their economic survival.

Comparing the periods 1993 to 1999 and 2010 to 2012, University of San Diego researchers found that the sale and value of firearms destined for Mexico has grown significantly. In the most recent period, 2.2 percent of US firearm sales were destined for Mexico, compared to 1.75 percent in 1993.

http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/san-diego-university-study-mexico-gun-trafficking-us