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GOP’s Stunning Hypocrisy on Border Security Enables Deadly Gun Trafficking

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Last month, a U.S. government official was shot and killed while on duty in Mexico. We’ve learned that the gun used to kill him came from the United States. ABC News reports:

The Texas man who allegedly bought one of the guns used to kill a U.S. agent in Mexico had been under surveillance as a suspected gun trafficker for a Mexican drug cartel, federal officials said today.

Otilio Osorio, one of three men arrested Monday in East Lancaster, Texas, by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents, allegedly bought the pistol in October 2010, before federal law enforcement became aware that he might be involved in gun-running for the drug cartels.

Gun trafficking along the border is considered a serious problem by the U.S. and Mexican governments. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) wanted the power to ask federal firearms licenses in the four border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas to report bulk sales of weapons preferred by Mexican drug cartels: semi-automatic assault weapons including the AK-47 and AR-15.

But, as ABC News notes:

The ATF recently proposed regulations to track multiple sales of guns in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California to look for possible straw purchasers, but the effort was blocked by the House of Representatives last month.