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House Vote on Guns at the Border Reveals Republican Hypocrisy on Border Security

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Border securityFor the past couple years, Republicans on Capitol Hill and across the country have been spitting out talking points about the need for stronger “border security.”  None of them will actually define what it means to “secure the border,” but we just know that in their world, there’s never enough border security.  Unless it comes to the situation of guns along the border and then, apparently, we’re doing just fine.  

One documented security problem has been the flow of assault weapons from border states into Mexico. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) wants gun sellers to report multiple sales of assault-type weapons. Media Matters explains:

Last week, the House of Representatives voted 277 to 149 to block the Obama administration from implementing a proposed rule intended to help the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) stem the flow of weapons to Mexican cartels. The proposed rule would require gun shops near the Mexican border to report multiple sales of assault-weapons, such as AR-15s and AK-47s, to the ATF. The reporting rule has repeatedly been delayed, despite calls by U.S. law enforcement and the Mexican government to address the southbound flow of weapons.

Since late 2006 when President Felipe Calderon took office, more than 34,000 people have been killed in a vicious and prolonged battle between the cartels and the Mexican government. More then 65,000 guns recovered in Mexico have been traced back to the United States.