MEXICO CITY — Confronting a Mexican drug war that is “sowing chaos in our communities,” President Barack Obama signaled Thursday that he will not seek renewal of a U.S. assault-weapons ban but instead will step up enforcement of laws banning the transfer of such guns across the border.
Obama had pledged during his campaign to seek renewal of the ban but has bowed to the reality that such a move would be unpopular in politically key U.S. states and among Republicans as well as some conservative Democrats.
Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who has been conducting an aggressive fight against drug cartels and had hoped to persuade Obama to push for reinstatement of the gun ban. Obama arrived in Mexico City on the first stop of a trip that will take him to a weekend Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, bringing together the leaders of 34 Western Hemisphere democracies.
Obama acknowledged that the United States shares responsibility for bloodshed and kidnappings in Mexico that have spilled across the border into the United States.
“I will not pretend this is Mexico’s responsibility alone,” Obama said. “We have a responsibility as well. We have to do our part.”
He said the U.S. must crack down on domestic drug use and the flow of weapons into Mexico.
Obama also said the United States and Mexico must work together to stem the problem of illegal immigration. He said he favors a more orderly process for immigrants who want to come to the United States and a pathway to legalization for those already in the U.S. illegally.
“My country has been greatly enriched by immigrants from Mexico,” he said.
The two leaders also pledged to cooperate on combatting global warming and the global recession.
“A politically delicate topic”
The U.S. ban on military-style assault weapons became law during the Clinton administration in 1994 and contributed to the Democrats’ loss of Congress that year. It expired under the Bush administration in 2004. When Attorney General Eric Holder raised the idea of reinstituting the ban this year, opposition from Democrats and Republicans emerged quickly.
“We know that it is a politically delicate topic because Americans truly cherish their constitutional rights,” Calderon said. But he also said 90 percent of the weapons seized in Mexico can be traced to the United States, adding that the flow of weapons increased after the ban expired.
Obama said he thought the ban “made sense” but pointedly added: “None of us are under any illusion that reinstating that ban would be easy.”
Instead, the president said he was taking other steps, including sending more border agents to patrol the border with Mexico and more helicopters to Mexico. He also said he was pressing the Senate to ratify the long-stalled inter-American arms treaty, which the United States had a major hand in negotiating through the Organization of American States.
“Now, are we going to eliminate all drug flows, are we going to eliminate all guns coming over the border?” Obama said. “That’s not a realistic objective. What is a realistic objective is to reduce it so significantly, so drastically, that it becomes once again a localized criminal problem as opposed to a major structural problem that threatens stability in communities along those borders.”
The Organization of American States adopted the weapons treaty in 1997 as a way to curtail dealing in illicit firearms throughout Latin America. Since then, 34 countries have signed the treaty, and 29 have ratified it. Former President Bill Clinton signed the treaty Nov. 14, 1997, one day after it was endorsed by the OAS, but it languished in the Senate.
Treaty ratification unlikely
It was unclear what type of reception the treaty would receive in Washington. Aides to Obama said he was working closely with Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, to get the treaty ratified, but Reid issued a statement that offered no commitment to bring the treaty up for a vote.
On Capitol Hill, a senior Democratic official said that despite the president’s urging, it would be difficult to move forward on the long-stalled treaty given the Senate’s already crowded agenda, as well as a continuing Democratic reluctance to engage in a politically charged debate over guns.
The National Rifle Association said Thursday that it would “continue to vigorously oppose any international effort to restrict the constitutional rights of law-abiding American gun owners.”
Calderon’s aggressive stand against drug cartels has won him the aid of the United States and the prominent political backing of Obama. Mexico is the main hub for cocaine and other drugs entering the U.S., and the United States is the primary source of guns used in Mexico’s drug-related killings.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in Mexico in drug-related violence since Calderon’s stepped-up effort against the cartels began in 2006.
The New York Times contributed to this report.
