A three-ton sign made of confiscated crushed weapons unveiled last year in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, by then-President Felipe Calderón, sent a clear and direct message to American neighbors up north: “No More Weapons.”

For years, particularly under Calderón’s leadership, Mexico has directly blamed lax U.S. gun control laws for increased violence south of the border by arming Mexican drug cartels to with military-grade assault weapons. Calderón said the expiration of the U.S. assault weapons ban in 2004 directly coincided with a rise in violence in Mexico.

The drug war was severely ramped up with Calderón’s election in 2006. According to the Mexican Interior Ministry, it has claimed more than 70,000 deaths.

via Mexico Jumps into the U.S. Gun Control Debate | Fox News Latino.