CIAO DATE: 08/2013

A Strategy to Reduce Gun Trafficking and Violence in the Americas

July 2013

Council on Foreign Relations

Abstract

The flow of high-powered weaponry from the United States to Latin America and the Caribbean exacerbates soaring rates of gun-related violence in the region and undermines U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere. Though the Senate rejected measures to expand background checks on firearms sales, reinstate a federal assault-weapons ban, and make straw purchasing a federal crime, the Obama administration can still take executive action to reduce the availability and trafficking of assault weapons and ammunition in the Americas.

Resource link: A Strategy to Reduce Gun Trafficking and Violence in the Americas [PDF]