Arizona shooting strikes chord in Mexico, where gun violence continues to shock
The Arizona shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has resonated for many in Mexican states terrorized by drug gangs that often use weapons smuggled from the United States.
A policeman checks a gun in Mexico City on Oct. 28, 2010.
Jorge Dan Lopez/Xinhua/Photoshot/Newscom
Mexico City
The Arizona shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) and the ensuing debate over gun laws is resonating in Mexico, where drug trafficking gangs, often armed with weapons smuggled from the US, are carrying out a violent campaign in which assassinations and mass shootings are all too common.
The governor of Sonora, the Mexican state bordering Arizona, said Monday that the shooting raises security concerns on both sides of the border. Gov. Guillermo Padrés Elías said he’ll discuss arms trafficking at his next meeting with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer that has yet to be scheduled after bilateral relations chilled last April over Arizona’s tough new immigration law.
“We will make ourselves available to Arizona and the United States to keep collaborating with them on this, so that weapons we all know are easy to acquire in the United States do not keep coming to Mexico," said Governor Padrés Elías, according to Spanish-language daily newspaper El Universal.
