DRUG DEMAND, WEAPONS FUEL MEXICAN VIOLENCE

NORMAN -- Seventy percent of firearms seized in Mexico were submitted
to a United States gun-tracing program. The figure could be higher, as
investigators couldn't determine the origin of nearly 9,000 seized
weapons.

It's further evidence of the many ways the U.S. has contributed to
Mexico's violent path. America's insatiable demand for drugs has
fueled cartels to turn to violence in controlling supply lines.

Three U.S. senators released the weapons report this week. Of the
29,284 firearms recovered by Mexican authorities in 2009 and 2010,
20,504 came from the United States.

The Associated Press reports most of the weapons were made in the
United States.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon placed the blame for thousands of
Mexican deaths on the U.S. weapons industry and its profits that come
from the guns.

The report recommends the U.S. institute background checks for sales
at gun shows, a ban on the import of non-sporting weapons and
reinstatement of the assault weapn ban lifted in the U.S. in 2004.

Violence in Mexico began to grow in 2005. Calderon said the increase
can be traced to the assault weapon ban's expiration in 2004.