By Allan Wall
April 17, 2009
NewsWithViews.com
It’s
been confidently reported, as of late, that the U.S. is the source of
90% of all the weapons utilized in Mexican crime. This has become a dogma,
repeated by no less than Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others
. It’s an impressive-sounding statistic, but is it true ?
In a word, no. It’s not correct. The 90% figure was originally based
upon a misunderstanding and thereafter has been constantly repeated in
the media and political world.
According to a spokeswoman for the ATF (U.S. Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms
Agency) “over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the
U.S.”
To borrow a Shakespearean expression, “there’s the rub”.
The fact that 90% of the “traced weapons” were from the U.S.
was transformed in the media to the false report that 90% of the weapons
used for criminal purposes in Mexico were from the U.S.
Criminals though, don’t limit themselves to using traced weapons.
According to Matt Allen, of ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement),
“Not every weapon seized in Mexico has a serial number on it that
would make it traceable, and the U.S. effort to trace weapons really only
extends to weapons that have been in the U.S. market.”
Therefore, many weapons confiscated in Mexico are not even sent to the
U.S. to be traced, because Mexican authorities readily recognize that
they aren’t from the U.S.
According to William Newell, ATF Special Agent, during the period of 2007-2008,
Mexico sent 11,000 guns to the ATF to be traced. Of those 11,000 weapons,
6,000 were able to be traced. Of those 6,000, 90% were traced to the U.S.
But those 11,000 guns weren’t the only weapons confiscated in that
time period. In fact, from 2007-2008, Mexican authorities recovered 29,000
guns.
That means that during that time period (2007-2008), 83% of recovered
guns in Mexico were NOT traced to the U.S.A. Only 17% were, which is a
far cry from 90%.
So where do all the non-US weapons in Mexico come from ?
They come from all over. They are brought over sea by the boatload. They
are brought over land from Central America (where weaponry galore is left
over from the civil wars there).
There are weapons in Mexico from South Korea (fragmentation grenades)
and China (AK-47s). There are rocket launchers originating from Israel,
Spain and the
ex-Soviet Union.
There are Russian Mafia groups in Mexico which are sources of weapons.
The Tijuana cartel has an alliance with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia) which is another source of weapons.
A lot of weaponry comes up through Guatemala. A recent bust on that border,
reported in the Guatemalan press in late March, confiscated grenades and
AK-47s.
Mexican army deserters, of whom there have been a staggering 150,000 in
the past six years, have brought their weapons with them (including M-16s).
Certainly, the U.S. should do what it can to stop the smuggling of the
weapons that do go from the U.S. to Mexico. A more secure border would
help. But then, the Mexican government doesn’t want the U.S. to
control illegal immigration, and shrieks to high heaven when there is
any attempt to control reduce it . The problem is, if you’ve got
a porous border, it’s going to be porous for guns, drugs and illegal
crossers. You can’t have an open border for illegal aliens and a
close border for weapons.
The American right to bear arms, based on the Second Amendment to the Constitution – has been strongly criticized in Mexico. In 2007, Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora had this to say: “American law seems absurd to me, because…the citizens can easily acquire arms. American society lives the consequences of this on a daily basis, and it has begun to be reflected upon as a result of that Korean not long ago.” (The “Korean” reference was to the Virginia Tech shootings).
|
Subscribe to the NewsWithViews Daily News Alerts! |
It’s
highly questionable that Mexican gun laws have made that country a safer
place. Even with stricter gun laws, Mexico actually has a higher murder
rate than the U.S. does.
Besides, what kind of people work for Mexican drug cartels ? Are they
the kind of people who care about obeying the law – any law ? Blaming
U.S. gun laws for Mexican drug violence is like saying that Mexican narcos
really want to obey the law - and they would, if the U.S. just didn’t
have that Second Amendment.
� 2009 Allan Wall - All Rights Reserved
Sign
Up For Free E-Mail Alerts
E-Mails are used strictly for
NWVs alerts, not for sale
Allan Wall recently returned to the U.S. after residing many years in Mexico.
Website: www.allanwall.net
E-Mail:
allan39@provalue.net
