of the White House Web site says Obama and Vice President Joe Biden `` support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent . '' Obama still supports reinstating the ban , as he did during the presidential campaign , but there are no plans to reintroduce it anytime soon , according to an administration official . Obama thinks more can be done to stop the illegal flow of weapons to Mexico within existing laws , the official said , noting that the president has taken steps to deploy more law enforcement to curb the illegal flows of drugs , weapons and cash in both directions across the border . The administration is unaware of any broad-based efforts in Congress to reinstate the ban , the official said . Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told CBS on Thursday that reinstating the ban `` simply is not part of the plan that we 're talking about here . '' Watch what Napolitano says about drug violence '' The Obama administration says the U.S. shares responsibility for the situation in Mexico , but as far as the ban goes , `` there 's a lot on our plate , '' White House
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- President Obama visits Mexico with many issues on the table , but reinstating the ban on assault weapons in the U.S. is n't likely to be one on which the two countries can reach agreement . Mexican federal police officers this week display an arsenal seized near the U.S. border . Mexican officials say criminals use assault weapons from the U.S. in the violent border region . Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Arturo Sarukhan , Mexico 's ambassador to the U.S. , say reinstating the ban would stop the deadly flow of weapons across the border . Under the Clinton administration in 1994 , Congress banned possession of 19 military-style assault weapons . The ban was allowed to expire 10 years later during the Bush administration . Earlier this year , U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that Obama would like to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons , noting , `` I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico at a minimum . '' Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last month that as a senator , she supported a measure to reinstate it . And the urban policy section