Per Foxnews.com’s William Lajeunesse, some sobering statistics are being presented that directly contradict the numbers being presented by politicians and newsmakers alike. Dianne Feinstein, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (among multiple reporters) have quoted the statistic claiming that 90% of all guns used for drug cartel crimes in Mexico came from the United States. It seems simple, straightforward and easy to explain, right? Here’s the problem: it’s a complete fabrication.
These people aren’t idiots (and before you libs jump on me for quoting FOX, the writer quoted ATF, FBI and ICE agents as well as Amnesty International and the LA Times–go read the piece for yourself). The politicians blindly tossing this number about know exactly what they’re doing. After making a big to-do about planning a trip to Mexico to work on stemming the violence South of our border, Democrats promised to do all they could to make sure that US gun laws stop making it so easy for the cartels to obtain guns. It’s a precursor to sweeping, across-the-board gun control legislation.
But the 90% figure? They didn’t just pull it out of their derrieres; there is, in fact, a grain of truth to it. Somewhere around 29,000 guns were seized in 2007 and 2008 in Mexico. Of that number, only 11,000 are traceable–meaning they have serial numbers or other markings that provide information on where they came from. Not all countries require this kind of information on guns, but the USA is one of them. Of the 11,000 traceable weapons found in Mexico over those two years, only 6,000 were successfully traced; and of that number, just over 5,100 were, in fact, traced back to the US market at some point or another. But in reality, that means only around 17% of the guns seized in TWO YEARS in Mexico came from the United States.
Think carefully about that claim. The weapons being seized in Mexico are incredible–AK-47′s, M16′s, shoulder-fired RPG’s, fragmentation grenades, you name it–are already illegal in the United States. You have to have a federal firearms license to even be in possession of one of the kinds of guns popular with the cartels, and to be federally licensed you have to jump through a myriad of flaming hoops. What do you think the ATF does? They raid the places that illegally traffic these weapons, and they do it on a regular basis. They’re not sitting on their laurels.
The drug trade is a lucrative business. The Russian mob is heavily involved and funnels weapons and money to the cartels. They get weapons made in South Korea, China, Spain, and Israel. A question brought up by Lajeunesse brings home a very good point: why would the cartels pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for straw buyers in the US when they can get what they want at a far lower price without having to go through the tight US dragnet at the border? They can have it brought in on boats without being questioned.
Think about this one, too–in the past six years, 150,000 troops have deserted the Mexican army. When they do this, they usually take their weapons with them. The standard issue rifle in the Mexican army is still the M16. I wonder where those are coming from? And, seriously–RPG’s? Fragmentation grenades? Who really believes that those are being procured in the USA?
The argument that we are primarily responsible for the bloodshed in Mexico because of our gun laws is absolutely preposterous. A criminal, by nature, is ultimately a completely selfish beast. He will try to find the easiest route to procure what he wants. He would rather take the path of least resistance to his goal, and if he can avoid a struggle or a high price, he will do so every time. The fact that Mexico’s drug cartels have more money does not negate these facts. They’re only killing more people because there’s more people involved and much higher stakes to consider.
The politicians who are now badly misquoting the 90% figure know exactly what they’re doing. They’re not complete idiots. I brought this up in my last post on DADT; they’ll woo us with promises that they have no intention of keeping, then once they’ve got what they want, they’ll screw us royally. They want to force their mission of gun control on us any way they can, and the quickest way to dupe the populace is to simply lie to them. The easiest lie to tell is the one that has a grain of truth to it. You see, it’s not just us being affected now–it’s the innocent people of Mexico being caught in the crossfire, and it’s all our fault. At least that’s what they’d have us believe.
Who needs the truth when they already have the power?
steveflesher
Philip
Mel Maguire
Mark Ciavola
Comments
Anyone want to take odds on when Mexico collapses and we invade? If I had the cash I’d be buying beachfront property in Baja because it will soon become part of the United States!!!
Hmmm…seems more likely the US will become a part of Mexico the way things are going. You should come visit Phoenix sometime.
LOL Mel. If Mexico implodes and ends up an official failed state (as opposed to the long run unofficial failed state it’s been for decades), then that doesn’t bode well for the U.S. Do we want that many refugees coming here?
This week I learned a new way how people from foreign countries come to the U.S. and game our healthcare system.
A new neighbor moved in. She is a nurse at an area hosptial. She told me how people from the Far East (usually China) land at San Francisco Airport, take a taxi to the nearest hospital ER, complain of chest pain, and then get the heart bypass surgery they can’t afford at home. When they are all well and better, they head home and skip out on the bill.
And people wonder why we don’t want socialized healthcare.
There’s a certain part of South/Central Phoenix that closely resembles Mexico City. The ramshackle homes, however, typically have newer, tricked-out vehicles sitting out front. My dad, who lives in a more affluent neighborhood, for a couple of years had a large Mexican family living next door; I can’t remember how many times we screamed at those idiots to turn down the Mariachi music that they blared every weekend. When they all lost their under-the-table jobs and had to go back to Mexico, they stripped the house of everything. Doors, plumbing fixtures, toilets, copper piping, everything–they took it all.
“The politicians blindly tossing this number about know exactly what they’re doing”
Hm, kind of like how union members suddenly made $75 per hour…
I never used that figure. Nor did I support it.
Now, union BOSSES might make that kind of money, but I’ve yet to meet a mere member who did.
“Hm, kind of like how union members suddenly made $75 per hour…”
Robert
When the auto bailout mess first his the news, I believe ABC news did a comparison between the UAW and Honda workers in America.
When all is said and done with fringe benefits and the like, UAW workers tally up $75 per hour. Honda workers in the U.S. come in at $48 per hour.
Or course not every dollar of the $75 per hour is salary nor is it on the $48 side either. But, it is probably very difficult to compete when your labor and benefit costs are 56% higher than your competition. It doesn’t get any easier when you bet your future on gas guzzling SUV’s and the price of gas hits $4 per gallon. So, GM and Chrysler can’t blame it all on the UAW.
“I never used that figure. Nor did I support it.”
Oh, I know. I wasn’t bringing that up to accuse you of anything, I just think it’s funny how numbers get exaggerated to make a point. And in both cases (unions and guns), the numbers were knowingly fudged in order to gain support…
“When all is said and done with fringe benefits and the like, UAW workers tally up $75 per hour”
Sure, if by ‘all said and done’ means factoring in pensions being paid out to retirees, benefits for active employees, and any other costs associated with running the actual business rather than what the employees make on an hourly basis, then yeah, they make $75.
UAW members make, on average, $35 per hour. That’s a damn good rate, but it’s not $75 per hour. Entry level jobs for UAW workers is $15 per hour. Guess how much non union workers start at. It’s a horrifying $14 per hour ::gasp::
All this nonsense about unions needing to make concessions (which Obama has now joined in on) is part of a concerted effort by the right to dismantle democracy in the workplace, also known as unions.
There is no problem with unionized labor, they aren’t making extraordinary amounts of cash while everyone else is getting screwed. the right wing just wants what it’s always wanted: the destruction of the middle class. It’s why I want to laugh and puke at the same time when I hear conservatives, of all people, oppose the Employee Free Choice Act on the basis of wanting to “protect” unions. Give me a break, they don’t want unions to exist, period.
“Sure, if by ‘all said and done’ means factoring in pensions being paid out to retirees, benefits for active employees, and any other costs associated with running the actual business rather than what the employees make on an hourly basis, then yeah, they make $75.”
Correct. That $75 per hour goes into the price of every UAW car.
Now Honda puts $48 per hour into their cars that are made in the U.S.
That difference is 56%. That makes it harder to compete if you are running a UAW car company.
Not all of Detroit’s problems are the UAW’s fault. Betting the future on SUV’s was fine until gasoline hit $4 per gallon. The UAW can’t be blamed for that.
At the same time, this crap about if a plant closes you get to keep drawing your pay for two years is rubbish. Why the Big Three ever agreed to that amazes me. It doesn’t surprise me the UAW would demand welfare like that. Get laid off an get paid for two years? Where can I get a job like that?
“Correct. That $75 per hour goes into the price of every UAW car.”
Correct? Really John? You’re going to say it’s okay to attribute, to an hourly wage, pensions for people who have retired and no longer work for the company? You’re saying it’s legitimate to use that number when talking about CURRENT employee pay? That’s ridiculous, and you ought to know that…
So all those gun shops along the Mexico border are just sitting there selling arms to Beck induced Obama hating, Fox watching Americans. Yeah right. You people that love guns so much need to take responsibility…Freedom of speech is also a constitutional protected right, but it has limits. So should gun ownership. Why in the hell do civilians need semi-automatic or automatic weapons? The fact is they don’t. You know if the the government ever did decide to take away your guns…the armed services you Republicans claim to admire so much…will have no problem taking them from a bunch of loons with a basement full of firearms and their General Glenn Beck.
Freedom of speech only becomes a crime when speech is used to MAKE THREATS. You can’t put too much of a cap on it because then you get into the realm of thought crimes. Your stance on gun rights is essentially the same thing.
Who said I wanted a fully automatic weapon? Lemme ask you this–did you know it was the NRA that helped to draft legislation that made fully automatic weapons illegal for the general populace to own or use? Of course not, you’re too busy hating them.
Semi-automatic weapons aren’t as dangerous as you think. The only time they become necessary is when you’re dealing with someone who has a weapon and you need to be able to shoot a little faster without having to rack a shotgun or cock the hammer on an inferior revolver. And did you know that shotgun pellets can do much more lasting damage than a single bullet in a semi-automatic pistol?
I don’t have a basement full of firearms. Nor do any of the other people I know. Contrary to what I’m sure you’d love to believe, we’re not a bunch of Timothy McVeighs.
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