Gun dealers also far outnumber agents. Here in tiny Sierra Vista, on a rise high enough to afford a view into Mexico, half a dozen dealers operate in stores along the town's main thoroughfare, and they also sell and trade arms out of their homes.
Arizona is a wide-open state for gun lovers: A license lets you carry a gun openly on the street or concealed.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, August 29, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 3 inches; 111 words Type of Material: Correction
Weapons smuggling: An article in Section A on Aug. 10 about guns being smuggled into Mexico and used by narcotics traffickers said that "high-powered automatic weapons and ammunition are flowing virtually unchecked from border states into Mexico." The guns purchased in the U.S. are semiautomatic or conventional firearms. It also stated that Mexicans cannot legally own firearms. Mexicans can own some types of firearms, but most high-caliber and advanced weapons such as those being smuggled in are restricted to the military and law enforcement. Also, the name of a suspect arrested in May was misstated as Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman. The suspect was Guzman's cousin, Alfonso Gutierrez Loera. Guzman remains at large.
Saguaro Firearms is a small, crowded shop on East Fry Boulevard, a strip of fast-food restaurants and mini-malls. Across the street is Guns & Gear. Anyone with proper ID and a brief background check can leave with a firearm under his or her belt and reach Mexico in minutes.
The manager at Saguaro Firearms, who gave his name only as Greg, carries a "comfortable to shoot" silver Kahr P40 in a black holster on his right hip.
"I don't believe all the hype" about all the guns getting into Mexico, he said, knifing open new boxes of ammunition.
He said that toll bridges, a fence and more border cops would not stop immigrants from flowing north or guns from flowing south. "Build a tower with an armed guard every 100 yards," he suggested. "Maybe then."
Washington and Mexico City are pledging cooperation to halt the weapons flow, but each capital wants more from the other. Washington is urging Mexican officials to be more vigilant at the border, and to thoroughly inspect and arrest crossers who carry weapons from the United States. Warning signs have been posted at the border, but few people pay heed.
William Hoover, the ATF's assistant director for field operations, told Congress that his agency is working with Mexican law enforcement officials on an "eTrace" system to track guns found in Mexico. The process allows the United States to start criminal investigations against anyone in the country who has sent a weapon to Mexico.
Mexico wants the United States to tighten gun laws in border states. They also want more checks on "straw man" purchasers like Rodriguez.
Key arrests
Since weapons began heading south in bulk three to five years ago, U.S. agents have made some key arrests. Unfortunately, many of them came after the weapons had been used in cartel warfare in Mexico.
This spring the ATF arrested a dealer and two others from the X-Caliber Guns store in Phoenix, which allegedly dispatched hundreds of AK-47s and other long guns and pistols to Mexico. The shop has since shut down; the three have pleaded not guilty.
