Fighting back: To avoid falling victim of a vicious drug war, some resort to taking up arms

NUEVO CASAS GRANDES, Mexico -- On the ranch lands near the U.S. border, people no longer take security for granted and have turned to weapons to stave off drug thugs. Teachers, ranchers, town officials, business owners and lawyers in rural towns of northwest Chihuahua near New Mexico have armed themselves. Legal or not, they are ready to use their guns for protection. In a country caught in the clutches of a vicious drug war, people have decided it's better to fight than to fall victim to the violence, which has claimed about 35,000 people nationally. It is estimated that 15.5 million weapons -- including small-caliber handguns, shotguns and semiautomatic rifles -- are owned by residents of Mexico while the army and the police have just under 1 million weapons at their disposal, according to a organization in Australia that tracks weapons worldwide. Fed up with chronic violence, some Mexican residents might be ready to push their government to make weapons more easily available. Life in areas southwest of Juárez has been cruel in the past two years. Besides slayings, a string of extortions, kidnappings and armed invasions of businesses and homes have taken them by surprise, many said. Fearful, these residents said they can't just sit and watch while criminals attack callously. Guns are necessary, they said. It is a reality that Alex LeBaron, a state representative in northwestern Chihuahua, wants the government to confront. Domestic gun laws have remained a taboo subject among Mexican politicians for decades. LeBaron believes times have changed, and he wants Mexico to revisit gun politics. "The right to bear arms is an important matter we shouldn't be afraid to discuss," LeBaron said. "People are armed in their homes. This is not a secret." The eight municipalities LeBaron represents surround Juárez and have been hit hard by cartel violence. "People won't allow more kidnappings," he said. "They are determined to defend themselves."...more