AZ Governor: New Gun Laws Won't Secure Border

(Washington) In statements yesterday to a Congressional committee, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said that new gun laws won't solve border problems.

Brewer, testifying before a field hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, said a focus on new gun laws ignores the underlying problem: the failure of the federal government to secure the border. She said the problems of violence will go away once the government does its job.

The governor said the record to date has been that Washington has been unwilling to commit the necessary funds and personnel. She noted her own request for more National Guard soldiers along the border has been rebuffed.

"If we get the resources, if we get the support and the federal government does what they're supposed to be doing according to our Constitution, those problems will halt.''

And that, Brewer said, includes border violence.

"Stopping the flow of guns into Mexico won't stop Mexican cartels from obtaining guns elsewhere,'' she said. The governor said the evidence shows "other countries have large factories that are making guns.''

She repeated her opposition to new gun control laws after the hearing.

Once again, everything stems from inadequate border security and, according to Gov. Brewer, any discussion of gun control is simply a distraction.