Gunz N Mexico

I am late on getting to this, I know, but I was too pissed to post when I first read this propaganda piece article in the Dallas Morning News.

U.S., Mexico launch unprecedented effort to disrupt cross-border weapons smuggling

By David McLemore and Laurence Iliff

HOUSTON – Tons of heroin and cocaine move north across the Southwestern border. And millions of dollars and truckloads of weapons move south – feeding the escalating levels of violence that have turned parts of Mexico into war zones and spread as far as North Texas.

Haven't "we the people" been demanding secure borders? Have we not forced Congress to approve the building of a fence between Mexico and the United States? You would think the rest of the article should be about the lack of a secure border and the .govs dragging it's feet on building our fence. Nope, "...millions of dollars and truckloads of weapons move south" gives a hint as to the essence of this "report".

At least 80 percent of all of the weapons used by drug traffickers in Mexico to kill one another as well as police and soldiers come from the U.S., Mexican officials say. They've repeatedly asked the U.S. government for more help in stopping the flow of weapons from Texas and other border states into Mexico.

Okay, instead of cussing and banging my keyboard around, I'll try to use logic here. Why would the Mexican Drug Cartels want U.S. firearms when they have easy access to the firearms used by the Mexican police and military? Report after report from south of the border mentions fully automatic firearms in use by the gangs. Select fire weapons are not being sold over the table at gun shows, gun shops or yard sales. As a matter of fact, I would go so far as to submit that the majority of black market full auto firearms in the United States came from south of the border.

Now comes the part where I start to see red:

On Monday, U.S. and Mexican customs investigation officials unveiled a cooperative effort called Armas Cruzadas to disrupt cross-border weapons smuggling through the sharing of databases and better monitoring of illicit sales at guns shops and guns shows.

And on Tuesday, the U.S. House authorized spending $1.6 billion over the next three years to help Mexico and other countries counter growing drug violence, including $74 million for the Justice Department to stem the flow of guns south. Funding, however, will have to come separately.

So, we are giving representatives from a corrupt government access to data on U.S. citizens and gun sales. This is the same .gov that depends upon money being sent back to Mexico by illegal aliens here in the United States to boost it's economy? The same .gov that has opposed the building of our fence and outright called us racist for wanting the fence in the first place? That .gov now has access to data on U.S. citizens?

On top of that we are going to give $1,600,000,000 to Mexico and other south of the border countries? NO, no, no, no, no, no.

Spend that $1.6 billion on expediting our fence.

Congress, secure the borders. Do your jobs, do what is mandated by the Constitution and see to the security of these United States.

Dewey Webb, special agent-in-charge of the Houston office of the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said the new operation will help provide firmer data on how many weapons are being bought legally or otherwise and moved across the border.

"Right now, we know Texas is the No. 1 source of weapons smuggled into Mexico, with most of them coming from Houston and Dallas," Mr. Webb said. They're bought "by 'straw purchasers' who act as buyers for the cartels."

Well Dewey, if you "know" all of this, why have you not arrested these straw purchasers? You do know that making a straw purchase is against the law don't you?

Oh wait... you did arrest one guy about 5 years ago. Great job!

One of the ATF's biggest cases in Dallas involved a security guard whom agents documented buying 152 firearms, including 78 Romanian-made assault rifles, at a Mesquite gun store over four months in 2003.

Agents determined that Adan Rodriguez was a paid straw purchaser for members of a Mexican cartel. One of the pistols he bought in Dallas was used in the cartel gunfight near Reynosa, Mexico, in which two federal police officers were shot. Mr. Rodriguez was convicted on federal gun charges in 2004 and is serving a 70-year sentence.

The fact that he is serving a 70 year sentence is a good job.

And then there is more on allowing Mexican law enforcement access to our data:

The new measures will also give Mexican law enforcement officials greater access to the eTrace computer database in the U.S., allowing them to use the serial numbers to trace weapons used in Mexican crimes to U.S. gun dealers.

Does no one in our government question the intelligence of giving agents from another country access to our data?

There is a paragraph in the piece that I am not sure about the data:

Nearly half of the 14,111 firearms recovered and traced in Texas came from Houston and Dallas, according to a 2007 ATF report. Houston was No. 1, with 3,820, and Dallas close behind at 3,358.

I assume this is data on trace data on firearms found in Texas, which has absolutely nothing to do with guns being used in Mexico. The fact that nearly half of anything in Texas comes from Houston and Dallas/Ft Worth makes sense as nearly have the people living in Texas live in these areas. The 14,111 number is just a large number thrown in to make folks go "ohhhh".

This article is nothing but a propaganda piece. It's intent is to further the gun control agenda by getting people to accept these half truths and misinformation. This story hit all the hot buttons. Gun shows, straw purchases, buying multiple firearms in a short period of time, and they even pulled out the evil FNH 5.7 mm pistol and called it "Particularly alarming".

Maybe the DMN does not have an agenda. It is possible that David McLemore is not an anti gun reporter using his soap box to spew his drivel. Yep, it's possible, but I doubt it.

Stories like this will result in calls for legislation that closes the imaginary "Gun Show Loophole", limits firearm purchases to 1 a month or so, and bans firearms based on caliber.

A question for the DMN. How about doing a story on the hundreds of unresolved cases of Americans kidnapped just south of the Texas border? Or maybe a story on the number of illegals who are violent predatory criminals that increase the crime rate in our cities? Those are stories your readers deserve to see published.

Also commenting:

Fits with Um...Did They FORGET About the Drug And PEOPLE Smuggling?

David with Following the Pesos

And others who I will add when I can grab the links.

I have a couple fat pork chops on the grill, gotta get.