". . .there are almost 11,000 weapons in here; the vast majority of them seized since 2006. They come from Russia, from China, from Czechoslovakia, and of course from the United States, but the big problem for the army and anyone else fighting the drug gangs is as quickly as they seize these weapons, those gangs are re-arming themselves." - Jonathan Hunt
Well now, maybe we should start looking to close the Russian, Chinese, and Czechoslovakian gun show loopholes; not that it would do any good.
2 comments:
No, but ending the "war on drugs" would. Just like ending the "war on alcohol" ended the violence associated with the alcohol trade.
I mentioned this in the comments section of your last post on the Mexican violence, but unfortunately, it is quite true that the cartels are getting the majority of their guns from the U.S.
When I was a CT intern at Stratfor, I actually got to do some research on this for one of the analysts. I found at least one report from Mexican officials where they claimed 90% of the weapons they seized were of American origin. They're being acquired mostly in straw purchases, which is where cartel gunmen will have a relative or a girlfriend across the border with no criminal record buy guns for them at stores in Texas. (And trust me, I live in TX. There are plenty of FFLs here who are aware of this problem and have been discussing it.) The cartels seem to be especially found of FN's 5.7x28mm weapons - the PS90 carbines and Five-Seven pistols, which they call "matapolicias".
This is the reality. However, I must echo Brass that it seems to me like a stupid issue to talk about when a bigger issue is the logic of the so-called "War on Drugs". I honestly have never understood how we failed to learn the lessons of Prohibition, and I think we wouldn't even need to worry about the drug trade in Mexico if politicians in this country (both Republicans and Democrats) would just admit we made a mistake. Until then, worrying about what guns the cartels use is like treating cancer with a band-aid.
Post a Comment