Help Stop Gun Violence in Mexico

Sign Petition, Organize Visit to Your Community

Over the past five years, 50,000 people have been killed in drug-war related violence in Mexico. And most of the guns that fuel this violence are smuggled over the U.S. border. A recent congressional report noted that at least 70% of the weapons seized in Mexico in 2009 and 2010 and submitted for tracing came from the United States.

Join 30,000 others on both sides of the border asking President Obama to help stop gun smugglers. A bi-national campaign is calling on the U.S. government to stem the flow of illegal weapons going across the border.

If you haven’t already signed this appeal, please do now:

President Obama has the power to help stop gun smugglers who are fueling violence in Mexico. We’re urging him to:

• Enforce the existing ban on the importation of military-style assault weapons (because many of them are later illegally smuggled into Mexico);
• Require gun dealers to report to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) the sale of multiple assault rifles to the same person over a period of five days (the Obama administration enacted this rule in August);
• Strengthen legal enforcement in regions of the U.S. that supply the bulk of the contraband weapons smuggled into Mexico.

Last week, thousands of activists gathered in Los Angeles to examine failed drug policies in the U.S. and Mexico, and propose different paths. FOR representative Paloma Ayala reports on the gathering.

Host a Mexican Peace Movement Leader

Courageous families all over Mexico are standing up in their own communities as part of a growing movement to end the violence. Olga Reyes has lost six family members in the last two years, and has become a leading voice in Mexico’s Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, which has criss-crossed her country with mass caravans of consolation.

Now, you have a chance to organize events with Olga to speak about her experience and this movement, in a U.S. speaking tour sponsored by FOR. Check out how you can organize in your community to hear from Olga Reyes about the human cost of the drug war and making long-term change to gun trafficking, drug policy, and U.S. militarization in Mexico.

To pursue hosting Olga in your community, read more.