Associated Press - May 15, 2009 6:14 PM ET

PHOENIX (AP) - Sen. John McCain says the United States needs to do more to crack down on gun smuggling into Mexico, but that such assistance in Mexico's war against drug cartels doesn't require restrictions on the gun rights of law-abiding Americans.

McCain told several thousand people at the National Rifle Association's convention in Phoenix on Friday that limiting guns sales in the United States won't prevent the cartels from buying weapons from other countries.

McCain says cartels threaten the security of the United States because America doesn't have a secure border and has a big appetite for illegal drugs from Mexico.

McCain says the U.S. government has overstated the prevalence of guns being smuggled from the United States into Mexico for use by cartels.

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