Didn't Think They'd Give This One Up, Did You?

[Glocktogo]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599191532700

By IOAN GRILLO / MEXICO CITY Ioan Grillo / Mexico City – Mon Aug 10, 3:05 am ET
The camcorder shakes as it films the thud of thick .50 caliber bullets ripping through a steel plate target in the heat of the Arizona desert. Panning across the jagged rocks and cacti, the camera then focuses on the shooter: a smiling Mexican sitting down on the dust as he uses both hands to fire the huge state-of-the-art weapon that can tear through tank armor. He was the happy customer, having bought the killing machine from an Arizona gun shop for about $21,000. The grainy video was seized by ATF agents in a raid on a weapon traffickers' safe house in Yuma. One man in the film was arrested and faces charges. But the man who showed off his shooting on the video is believed to be south of the border using the cannon-like gun to wage Mexico's relentless drug war.


This traffic of heavy weaponry from American gun stores to Mexican drug cartels will once again feature in talks between the U.S. and Mexico when President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon meet at a North American summit in Guadalajara on Aug. 9 and Aug. 10. Mexico with its strict gun laws has long complained that the vast majority of firearms used by the gangs wrecking havoc here are brought in El Norte. Meanwhile, Obama has said more unequivocally than any president before that the U.S. has responsibility to stop American guns getting into the hands of the mobsters (See pictures of the most dangerous city in the Americas, Ciudad Juarez).


But seven months into Obama's administration the guns keep flowing south and show no sign of abating. Mexican government raids continue to turn up vast arsenals of brand new firearms that can be traced to shops north of the Rio Grande. Another sign of the gangster's abundant supply of firepower is that they can afford to leave some weapons at murder scenes to avoid detection. Along with the river of guns, Mexico's bloodbath has deepened into the Obama era. Last month was the deadliest since Calderon launched a frontal offensive against drug cartels in 2006, with 854 drug related killings. In total, more than 13,000 people have perished in massacres, beheadings and execution-style hits under Calderon - who Obama has compared to the "untouchable" Elliot Ness for his fight against organized crime. (See pictures of crime-fighting in Mexico City.)


Obama concedes that one major problem in stopping the traffic is the strength of U.S. gun laws - and the gun lobby supporting them. Mexican officials have pushed for the United States to reinstate a Clinton-era ban on assault rifles. Such weapons - especially Kalashnikovs and AR15s - are behind the vast majority of Mexican gang killings. Both types of guns have been sold widely in Arizona and Texas since the U.S. ban on sale of assault weapons was repealed in 2004. A 2008 Supreme Court decision reinforces the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, making a future ban even more difficult. In his first visit to Mexico in April, Obama said apologetically that it was beyond his power to overturn that. "Assault weapons, as we now know here in Mexico, are helping to fuel extraordinary violence," he said. "Having said that none of us are under any illusion that reinstating that ban would be easy."


But perhaps Obama could also better use the resources he does have to stem the flow of firepower. His administration has ordered new checkpoints with hundreds of Homeland Security Agents searching for guns heading south. However, such random stop tactics have had little impact on a border that stretches 2,000 miles from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, ATF agents who run the intelligence work that nets most convicted traffickers still complain about being overstretched. In the Phoenix Area, for example, the ATF has only 20 dedicated firearms investigators for thousands of gun sellers; some shops don't get inspected for years. "The traffickers have very organized operations. Intelligence work and investigations are the best way to get at them," says Peter Forcelli, who runs the Phoenix firearms trafficking group. A veteran of the New York Police Department, Forcelli says the scale of the problem in the southwest is overwhelming. "I seized more AK47s in my first week in Arizona than in 15 years in New York," he says.


Calderon will be especially keen to see new efforts on the U.S. side because a large chunk of the American money promised for Mexico has been delayed. Under the Merida Initiative, $1.4 billion was earmarked to help Mexico fight cartels over three years. But following accusations of Mexican army abuses - including torture, rape, and murder - the Senate has held back 15% of those funds until it can certify that Mexico is making efforts to clean up its human rights record. Mexico's Congress this week issued a statement condemning this certification process. While American shops are arming the cartels, the lawmakers said, they have no right to judge the Mexican army for fighting back. "We can never agree with a foreign government unilaterally judging us in return for economic help to deal with a shared problem," said Rep. Tomas Torres.

Just once I'd love to see someone in our .gov tell them that we'll get those guns taken care of as soon as you take care of illegal immigration and drug running. Just once.

 

[angsniper]

If they did that the Mexican economy would collapse.

 

[thayton]

I think the Mexican citizens need some guns, problem solved.

 

[Talacker]

Again, why it is up to America to regulate what goes into Mexico is beyond me.

 

[Shadowrider]

I wonder how the background check went? I'm sure he had the tax stamps when he crossed the border. Didn't he?

I think I'll run down to H&H and pick one of those up since they are so available.


But to answer your question, no I didn't think they'd give it up. I'm about sick of seeing him go anywhere out of country. Because everytime he does we hear that we have to sacrifice something to cure some ill in the other country he happens to be in. Like we don't have enough to do here.

 

[davecaris]

Again, why it is up to America to regulate what goes into Mexico is beyond me.

Exactly!!!

 

[LightningCrash]

I think the Mexican citizens need some guns, problem solved.

They have guns. Fully automatic ones that didn't come from the US.


This article doesn't contain a single statistic about the number of US-marked guns in Mexico. That should tell you something.

 

[omegis13]

I wonder how the background check went? I'm sure he had the tax stamps when he crossed the border. Didn't he?

I think I'll run down to H&H and pick one of those up since they are so available.

Since when do .50 cal non-full auto rifles require a tax stamp?

Oh, and I do believe H&H could get you hooked up if you so wanted.

 

[vvvvvvv]

What rifle is this that costs $21K? And why no frame captures or video?

 

[Shadowrider]

Since when do .50 cal non-full auto rifles require a tax stamp?

Oh, and I do believe H&H could get you hooked up if you so wanted.

$21,000? I thought they were talking about the M2 that they said got across the border awhile back. I know H&H can hook me up and a Barret fiddy single or semi don't cost no twenty one grand!

ETA: Come to think of it I'm not too sure that a legit M2 could be had for $21,000 either. Maybe, IDK.