The Washington Post tied thousands of guns from the United States to violence in Mexico. (Photo by Cory Doctorow.)
A yearlong investigation by the Washington Post traced thousands of guns tied to drug violence in Mexico to arms dealers in the United States.
Eight of the top 12 dealers were in Texas, but No. 10 on the list was a Florida business, Shooters of Jacksonville, which sold 1,320 guns later found in Mexico.
“A manager there named Mike declined to give his last name and said there’s little the store can do to prevent guns being used in crimes,” the Post reported. “The buyers ‘fill out the federal document, pass the background check, and from there it is not our control,’ he said.”
Meanwhile, the Mexican cities along the border with the United States have become deadly places for journalists. In a Knight Foundation-funded project on the murders of journalists in Latin America, reporter Tyler Bridges found 61 journalists have been killed in Mexico in the last five years as a result of drug-related violence.