Former Mexican President Vicente Fox inserted himself into U.S. gun control debates this week in response to Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas.
President Donald Trump and Mr. Fox have sparred over immigration policy since the billionaire was a U.S. presidential hopeful in 2016, but the two may now have a new point of contention. Mr. Fox, whose nation has been embroiled in drug cartel violence for over a decade, says America must enact new gun control measures immediately.
“#GunControl is a topic that must be dealt with ASAP. American people must not be looking over their shoulder for their countrymen,” the former Mexican president tweeted Monday in response to gunman Stephen Paddock’s Las Vegas attack that killed 59 people and wounded more than 500 others.
Reaction to the unsolicited public policy advice was swift.
“You ignore the cartels massacring your people on a daily basis,” responded a user identified as Hambo.
“His hometown is [controlled] by the narco state,” added David Garcia.
“You have some nerve as your countrymen decapitate and slaughter your citizens daily,” said a woman named Teresa.
The outrage directed at Mr. Fox stems from out-of-control cartel violence that has raged since he left office in 2006.
In the five years after he left office, the Prosecutor General of Mexico released the following statistics on cartel-related deaths:
- 2007: 2,554
- 2008: 7,109
- 2009: 9,614
- 2010: 15,273
- 2011: 12,903 (January through September)
Mr. Trump told reporters Tuesday that Congress will revisit the subject of gun laws at a later date.
“What happened in Las Vegas is in many was a miracle,” Mr. Trump said. “The police department has done such an incredible job, and we’ll be talking about gun laws as time goes by.”
Updated: A previous version of this article included statistics from The International Institute for Strategic Studies’ “Armed Conflict Survey 2017” report. The group contacted The Washington Times and noted that a “methodological flaw” was found in its calculations.
“Our researchers are working to rectify this and we will share the results in due course. We anticipate this will result in Mexico’s conflict remaining among the ten most lethal in the world, by estimated fatalities attributable to an armed conflict,” a statement on the group’s website says.
#GunControl is a topic that must be dealt with ASAP. American people must not be looking over their shoulder for their countrymen.
— Vicente Fox Quesada (@VicenteFoxQue) October 2, 2017
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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