Oh good--John Kerry has gotten involved in finding solutions for the bloody chaos in Mexico, and is, according to the Boston Globe, "in solidarity" with Mexico. Of course, with Senator Kerry, showing "solidarity" with Mexico boils down to showing solidarity with the Brady Campaign and the Violence Policy Center. For instance:
We have another responsibility. The vast majority of the weapons used by the cartels as they fight each other over drug smuggling routes and target army and police officers come from the US. And they are horrific weapons.
Well, "horrific" is in the eye of the beholder, and more importantly, in the intent of the user. Many of the weapons used by the cartels' thugs are certainly
powerful, though--
more powerful, in fact, than the firearms that can be found in the gun shops and gun shows that many would have us believe should be held responsible.
Back to Senator Kerry:
The cartels maintain well-trained paramilitary hit squads that are often better equipped than the police. Their encrypted communications gear is state-of-the-art, and they have mobilized up to 80 vehicles in simultaneous strikes against multiple targets.
Yes--the cartels are well equipped, well organized, and headed by
billionaires--but we are to believe that their ability to arm themselves would be seriously hampered by any laws passed in the U.S.
Let's talk a little more about the sources of weapons used in the Mexican drug violence. Even occasional readers have no doubt picked up on the fact that I very much admire the work of David Codrea at
War on Guns, and now at the National Gun Rights Examiner. When I say about something that David has written that it might be among his most important work, it's not something I say lightly. That, however, is exactly what I'm saying about today's
National Gun Rights Examiner piece.
In it, David looks at what we are told over and over again--some variation on this:
American gun sellers supply the cartels with 95 to 100 percent of their guns, according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
He then contrasts that with what David Ogden, Deputy AG, says when under oath:
According to ATF’s Tracing Center, 90 percent of the firearms about which ATF receives information are traceable to the United States.
"90 percent of the firearms
about which ATF receives information"? That's a rather dramatic difference from the claim that American gun dealers sell ninety percent or more of the guns used by the cartels.
I can only conclude that the American people are being targeted with a coordinated campaign of disinformation, in which the mainstream media is either complicit, or by which it has been fooled as easily as the rube who jumps on a great deal on a pair of breeding mules.
Read
David's article, and take a minute to take the action he suggests.
Stumble it!
