David Kopel: Are Gun Control Laws in Mexico a Model for the United States? David Kopel - The Washington Post
go to original April 18, 2014

The most recent issue of the Texas Review of Law and Politics includes my article with the aforesaid title. This is the first law review article to examine in depth Mexican gun laws, and related empirical data.

The article begins with an examination of the right to arms in the Mexican Constitution, and of predecessor versions of that right. Former versions recognized a right to carry, but the current version recognizes only a right in the home. In practice, the Mexican government ignores the right.

The next part of the article details the operation of Mexico’s federal gun control statute, which dates from 1972. The statute itself is very strict, and enforcement tends to be oppressive and corrupt. Accordingly, many Mexicans obtain firearms outside of the very narrow channels (only one legal gun store in the entire country) which the government permits. Fourteen percent of Mexican households have a firearm, including 50 percent of poor households in high violence areas. In many parts of Mexico, the government does not reliably protect citizens from violence, so citizens must protect themselves.

Read the rest at The Washington Post

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!