Senate Judiciary Committee Oversight Hearing with Attorney General Eric Holder, Nov. 8, 2011

U.S. Guns in Mexico

Attorney General Holder: "[O]f the nearly 94,000 [weapons] that have been recovered that have been traced in Mexico in recent years, over 64,000 of those guns were sourced to the United States of America; 64,000 of 94,000 guns sourced to this country."

FACT

The definition of a "U.S. source gun" used in these often cited statistics was not created by the ATF and is overly broad.  It includes guns manufactured in the United States even if never sold by a federally licensed gun dealer in the United States.  Such weapons may have been legally exported to foreign governments or stolen before falling into the wrong hands.  That cannot be properly blamed on Americans exercising their Second Amendment freedoms.

According to ATF statistics, of the 21,313 guns submitted for tracing by the government of Mexico in 2009, only 5,444 of them (25 percent) traced back to federally licensed gun dealers in the United States.  Similarly, in 2010, of 7,971 guns submitted for tracing by the government of Mexico, only 2,945 (37 percent) traced back to federally licensed gun dealers in the U.S.

The reason for the large disparity between the overall numbers of guns submitted in those two years is that in late 2009, the government of Mexico provided the United States with a large list of guns it had been stockpiling for years.  Accordingly, 2009's numbers do not reflect guns that were seized exclusively in 2009, but rather for a number of the preceding years.

Additionally, any statistics on the percentage of such guns tracing back to the United States are further skewed because of selection bias.  As it has been widely noted, the government of Mexico only provides guns to the United States for tracing that they already have reason to believe originated here.  There is no reason to submit for tracing guns that are known to originate in Mexico.

In a November 8, 2011, court filing, the Chief of ATF's Firearms Operations Division made a declaration that "in 2008, of the approximately 30,000 firearms that the Mexican Attorney General's Office informed ATF that it had seized, only 7,200, or one quarter of those firearms, were submitted to ATF for tracing."  Based on these statistics, it's clear that the total sample of guns submitted for tracing is not representative of all the guns found in Mexico, and there isn't evidence that the other 75 percent of those guns were sold in a U.S. gun store.

Documents related to the FACTS.

Author: Stephanie Walsh, M.D., Medical Director, Child Wellness, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

The Thanksgiving holiday season is a wonderful time of the year filled with family, friends and of course, food. While the spirit of Thanksgiving is to give thanks for all that we have, the holiday has become increasingly focused on food and eating. There's no harm in enjoying a meal with your family on Thanksgiving, but it's important to remember that the purpose of the holiday is not simply to over-eat.

Childhood obesity continues to be a threatening epidemic in Georgia. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is continuing to see cases of obesity at all three of its hospitals. The consequences of obesity on children include health issues that are typically seen only in adults, such as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, joint problems and high cholesterol. Strong4Life aims to help families take small steps that add up to big changes to help prevent or reverse the consequences of obesity.

Thankfully, there are a lot of ways you can make this Thanksgiving a healthier one for the whole family. Strong4Life helps families bring together four essential building blocks every kid needs to be healthy - Eat Right, Be Active, Get Support and Have Fun. You don't have to take a break from trying to be healthy just because it's the holidays; instead, try incorporating one or two of the tips below into your family's holiday routine:

Eat Right

• Try to incorporate more whole fruits and vegetables into your Thanksgiving meal; you'll save on the calories that are often added to fruits and vegetables to make heavy casseroles.
• Serve water with sliced lemon or lime with your Thanksgiving meal instead of sugary beverages like lemonade, alcohol and sweet tea. You'll get more flavor with less sugar and calories.

Be Active

• Leading up to Thanksgiving, encourage your family to spend one less hour in front of the television and one more hour of physical activity per day to help offset the extra calories consumed on Thanksgiving Day.
• On Thanksgiving Day, consider leaving the T.V. and computers off all day so your family will have more opportunities to be active.

Get Support

• Sometimes, overindulging at the holidays can lead to eating unhealthy all of the time. Try to recognize when your family's holiday eating has become an unhealthy habit and work together as a family to make better choices.
• If you are concerned about childhood obesity, talk to your healthcare provider about more steps your family can take to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Have Fun

• Play a game of touch football, Frisbee or kickball after the Thanksgiving meal to help everyone feel energized rather than lethargic.
• Promote "play time" and encourage activities that are fun and physical such as hop-scotch, jumping rope, tag or hide-and-go-seek.

Remember that parents serve as role models for their children, so make sure your actions are ones that you would want your children to follow. By making a few simple changes, your whole family can enjoy a healthy and happy Thanksgiving!