Traveling to Mexico with a firearm
How can an American legally carry a gun in Mexico?
Mexico is a contradiction in terms. They will skewer any American they catch crossing the border with a gun unless you are a US federal agent assigned for a specific time in Mexico to the US Embassy. Mexico has very tough gun laws and even being in possession of ammunition will get you some prison time in theory. The reality is that if you are a Mexican Citizen and you pay off the right people and you probably have no worries about possessing a firearm. If you are an American Citizen, don’t even think about possessing a gun in Mexico, you will go to prison simply because you are American.
People who have never lived along the border have no idea about the numbers of guns in Mexico. Most of them are bought legally or illegally in the US and smuggled in. Mexican Customs at the land ports of entry seldom if ever check any crossing into Mexico. Smuggling guns into Mexico is risky business, if you as an American get caught there will be hell to pay! The Mexican prison system in nasty, corrupt, and money rules.
There is only one gun store in Mexico for Mexican cops and it’s very difficult to even get permission to buy anything there. In Mexico all the bad people illegally possess firearms but they pay mordida to the right people and there are few worries. That’s why the cartels operate with impunity, they pay off all the right people.
I by no means would ever bad mouth the common people in Mexico. I have family and friends on both sides of the border. Mexican people in general are family oriented, hardworking, honest, and a joy to be around. The corrupt government is the problem with Mexico. If you don’t pay off the right government officials nothing will ever get done.
