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Latin American Program in the News: Obama's Gun Plan Could Impact Weapons Trafficking

Eric L. Olson

Eric Olson remarked upon the impact that a trafficking law approved by the U.S. Congress could have on arms trafficking between the United States and Mexico.

President Barack Obama called for a series of laws and restrictions that would overhaul the nation’s gun laws on Wednesday. Some of those steps could have an impact on weapons trafficking across the border into Mexico.

Among the recommendations, the president said he will ask Congress to create a federal firearms trafficking law. Right now, one of the closest regulations to that is a straw-purchasing law whose sentencing guidelines, law enforcement believe do not match the crime.

Eric Olson is with the Woodrow Wilson Center, a think-tank that has studied cross-border weapons trafficking. He says the president was vague, but Olson said federal prosecutors need a trafficking law.

"It gives them a more direct tool for attacking the problem of trafficking," Olson said.

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About the Author

Eric L. Olson

Eric L. Olson

Global Fellow;
Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Seattle International Foundation
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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more

Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more

Mexico Institute

The Mexico Institute seeks to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship. A binational Advisory Board, chaired by Luis Téllez and Earl Anthony Wayne, oversees the work of the Mexico Institute.   Read more