Reduce trafficking of U.S. guns

Background: In Haiti, the United Nations (UN) reports that there were over 4,700 homicides in 2023, more than double the count in 2022. They also report the current presence of over 700,000 internally displaced persons and 5 million people facing acute food insecurity, due in large part to increased activity of gangs and easy access to weapons and ammunition. Some estimates suggest there could be as many as 500,000 firearms in Haiti, most of them illegal. While MCC staff and partners continue to do amazing peacebuilding work on the ground in Haiti, their jobs are much more difficult and dangerous due to violence and insecurity. 

In Central America, more than 40% of crime-related guns recovered by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) were traced to the U.S. For Mexico and the Caribbean, that number is over 70%. The flow of U.S. weapons and ammunition into the region is enabling tangible harm and violence including massacres, kidnappings, and disappearances which ultimately drive people to flee their homes. MCC partners in Mexico and Latin America are caring for people on the move, and migrants are greatly impacted by violence.

The Americas Regional Monitoring of Arms Sales Act or ARMAS Act would require the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce to create a detailed strategy to counter trafficking of U.S. guns. Improvements would also be made in data collection which would aid in identifying the end users of illegally trafficked weapons and crafting strategies to combat trafficking. 

Other important policy changes could include the Caribbean Arms Trafficking Causes Harm Act, Stop Arming Cartels Act, and Haiti Criminal Collusion and Transparency Act. These bills would also further restrict weapons trafficking by requiring additional reports, banning .50 caliber rifles, and implementing targeted sanctions on corrupt actors. The president also has the authority to transfer oversight of legal U.S. gun exports from the Commerce Department to the State department, further enhancing monitoring. 

Please encourage your members of Congress to support the ARMAS Act and other bills that would reduce weapons trafficking from the U.S. to Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Faith reflection: “Act with justice and righteousness and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place.” Jeremiah 22:3 (NRSV)

Action: Urge Congress to reduce the trafficking of U.S. guns in Latin America and the Caribbean

Photo above: Relatives of disappeared people in Mexico hold hands, forming a heart, during the December 2023 national gathering of the Movement of Our Disappeared, organized by MCC partner SERAPAZ. Photo courtesy of the Movement of Our Disappeared