Thread: GAO: Mexican Drug Guns Coming from United States

GAO: Mexican Drug Guns Coming from United States

Thursday, June 25, 2009 1:40 PM

By: Rick Pedraza

The Government Accountability Office has released a new study that shows most firearms recovered in drug violence in Mexico come from the United States, mostly from the Southwest border states of Texas, California and Arizona.

The study, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, also shows the number of drug-related murders more than doubled last year, from 2,700 in 2007 to more than 6,200 in 2008.

"The availability of firearms illegally flowing from the United States into Mexico has armed and emboldened a dangerous criminal element in Mexico, and it has made the job of drug cartels easier," Rep. Eliot L. Engel, D- N.Y., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, said.

"It is simply unacceptable that the United States not only consumes the majority of the drugs flowing from Mexico, but also arms the very cartels that contribute to the daily violence that is devastating Mexico."

Engel and the subcommittee will hold a hearing on arms trafficking today on Capitol Hill and will cite the GAO findings in the hope to enact tougher U.S. gun laws and help restrict arms smuggling, The Journal reports.

Critics of the report, including the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms industry, and other gun groups, say the GAO report is misleading on Mexico violence and U.S. guns. They challenge the findings citing incomplete data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Of the almost 30,000 weapons seized by Mexican law enforcement in 2008, only 7,200 were submitted to the bureau for tracing, the report shows. The study cites bureaucratic problems in Mexico that reduce the number of weapons submitted to the U.S. for electronic tracing, which skews the results.

In addition, CNSNews.com reported in April 2 that, “according to an ATF spokesperson, the bureau does not actually count, acquire, inspect and warehouse the weapons confiscated in Mexico, but relies on the Mexican government to submit information on the guns such as the serial number, make, and model for e-tracing.â€

There are too many Americans that don't care what they make money at. Drugs or guns. Or embezzling tax money. What's the diff? It seems to be the American Way.

All the more reason to close the border.

Period!

Is anyone sick of hearing how we have facilitated Mexico and South America in invading our country and breaking our laws? Isn't it just like this administration to make it sound like the United States caused this corruption. This reek of Janet and her crew. We are the terrorists not the law-breaking drug dealers who probably had forged documents to buy the guns. Also, the manipulation of statistics is another Janet thing.

Time to boot the jerks out of office AND the other jerks out of our country.

Funny that we just read this story based on statistics from the G.A.O.:

Less than 24% of guns seized by Mexican authorities in 2008 were traced back to the U.S.
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-160586-guns.html