http://blog.chron.com/bakerblog/2016/10/the-right-to-bear-arms-in-mexico-mexican-senator-invokes-the-u-s-second-amendment/A Mexican Senator, Jorge Luis Preciado, is advocating for private gun ownership in Mexico for self defense. Current law prohibits ownership of most firearms, labeling the majority as "for armed forces only". However, a precedent has been set. In 2011 (if my research was correct), the Mexican army allowed self-defense groups (Autodefensas) to register weapons as a group to provide policing services in more rural communities.
Preciado stated that Mexicans, too, “have the right to legitimate self-defense, and if a criminal enters my house or my business, he should at least know that on the other side there could be someone that has a weapon with which to respond … because we have organized groups that are completely armed and we have a society that is in a complete state of defenselessness.”
The senator went to site a startling statistic
...U.S. citizens have been afforded the right to bear arms since 1789 and that reports indicate that on average, 4.7 people out of every 100,000 are killed in the U.S., while Mexico’s homicide rate is an average of 21 killings out of every 100,000. In some Mexican states such as Colima or Guerrero, the rate is as high as 56 out of every 100,000.
It is unclear if private gunownership is solely responsible for this difference.
I think armed Mexicans could potentially curb some of the drug cartels, but I still think the cartels will be better armed and will just steal the legal weapons. Your thoughts?