As part of the gun operation, run by the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, federal agents watched as more than 2,000 guns hit the streets; their goal was to trace them to a Mexican drug cartel.

Eric Holder The Washington Post

Responding to a reporter’s question on weapons’ regulations, Holder said, “Well, as President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons. I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum.”

Holder Revives Talk Of An Assault Weapons Ban – Political Hotsheet – CBS News

Obama thinks that sending thousands of assault rifles to criminals in Mexico will have a positive impact.