WASHINGTON - October 16 - A report released Tuesday by the Bi-national Task Force on the U.S.-Mexico Border recommended improving security in the border region, in part by calling on the United States to strictly regulate gun shows and ban military-style assault weapons.  This panel was co-chaired by a former Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and former Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

In response, Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, commented as follows:

"Americans buy the drugs and sell the guns that fuel appalling violence on both sides of the Rio Grande. This report shows once again that our weak gun laws in the United States facilitate the killing.  We should give law enforcement the tools they need to keep illegal firearms from destroying families on both sides of the border."

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Resources:

• Associated Press report, Wednesday October 14: "The United States should reinstate a Clinton-era ban on assault weapons to prevent such guns from reaching Mexican drug cartels, former officials from both countries said in a report released Tuesday.  The group, which includes two former U.S. ambassadors to Mexico, also said the U.S. should do more to stop the smuggling of firearms and ammunition into Mexico by stepping up investigations of gun dealers and more strictly regulating gun shows."

• According to the Executive Summary of the Task Force's report:

"The United States should intensify efforts to curtail the smuggling of firearms, ammunition, and bulk cash into Mexico by aggressively investigating gun sellers, regulating gun shows, [and] reinstituting the Clinton-era ban on assault weapons...."