In the recent debate about stricter gun control, some Mexican and American officials saw a sliver of hope — that such laws might curb the flow of illegal weapons over the United States’ southern border.

“I hope that whatever we are going to do in trying to protect our gun rights but at the same time regulate the legal ownership of weapons is going to have a component on guns that are being smuggled out of the country so easily now and causing the carnage,” said Alonzo Peña, the former deputy director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement who has also served as a Department of Homeland Security attaché at the United States Embassy in Mexico City.

But the national debate, coupled with the Obama administration’s proposals to tighten gun laws, has only fortified the ranks of Second Amendment proponents in Texas, who say the border states that are a main source for weapons in Mexico’s drug war are not responsible for the thousands of murders in that country since 2006.

After President Obama called last week for more background checks on potential gun purchasers and a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, Republican lawmakers immediately rebuked the White House’s efforts. Texas state lawmakers have already pushed proposals that would permit college students to carry weapons on campus and that would also open the door for gun-carrying marshals at primary schools.