It's way beyond the point...

...of cooperation working now, I think:

An area along the Texas-Mexican border is, at least to some extent, a no-go zone. Not the Afghan-Pakistan border, the Texas-Mexican border.

That's unacceptable. American and Mexican officials need to increase cooperative efforts — such as the Merida Initiative and the Border Governors Conference — to make the border safe and secure for citizens of both nations.

I've said it before on several occasions, but you know what would give those cartel thugs pause? Return fire, and Mexicans' (and American liberals) delicate sensibilities be damned. (Personally, I'd go for at least an M-16, and a belt-fed M-60 in case things REALLY went rodeo.) Unfortunately, of course, thanks to the Hughes Amendment, the only folks with the machine guns are gonna be the police and the military. And they're not going to be patrolling with said automatic weaponry. So this sort of thing is going to continue to happen. Count on it.