(Photo by JULIO CESAR AGUILAR/AFP via Getty Images)
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The latest from Fox News seems to fall under the “no kidding, Sherlock” banner. In a recent report studying the cartel crimes in Mexico and a potential correlation to the country’s strict gun laws, Fox News seems to have realized perhaps those laws – gasp – help the criminals. You see, in Mexico there’s only one place in the entire country to buy a gun and the wait time and restrictions are ridiculous. As a result, most guns are owned by criminals (shocker).

Fox News reports on basic numbers and asks a rather obvious question:

In pre-pandemic times, the store sold an average of just 38 firearms a day – yet Mexico remains awash with illegal weapons – almost all in the hands of cartels and criminal operatives.

As violent crime surges across the nation of 126 million, activists are raising the question: Is it time to loosen firearms restrictions so ordinary people can better protect themselves and their families?

So, what does buying a gun in Mexico entail currently?

Despite Mexico’s constitutional mandate, citizens are only allowed one handgun and up to nine long arms – all priced well above U.S. market value – provided they can show proof of belonging to a hunting or shooting club.

There are no gun shows and private sales are outlawed, with a gun owner only allowed to sell their firearm back to the government, which oversees all transactions.

Background checks can take more than 6 months. For most people, the high cost of guns and licenses, as well as travel to Mexico City, make gun ownership a luxury they can’t afford. A separate permit is required to carry a concealed weapon and, by most accounts, are nearly impossible to obtain.

It sounds like the massive disparity in who does and does not own guns un Mexico isn’t exactly an accident, either:

“Over past decades, the country has been going through a process of systematic disarmament – classic buyback schemes and anti-gun campaigns,” said Ed Calderon, a former Mexican federal law enforcement officer and cartel expert. “And in some places, there is absolutely no security, no police presence.”

Calderon argues that easing the route to gun ownership for the Mexican people would “make things better” in terms of self-defense, but stressed that the army – which controls the process – does not want to see groups of armed citizens rise up. As it stands now, all weapons must be registered and approved by the armed forces.

So, how many people are dying in Mexico? According to the World News those numbers just keep climbing:

Mexico’s homicide rate remained at historically high levels of 29 killings per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the National Statistics Institute.

By comparison, there were about 5 murders per 100,000 people in the United States in 2018, the latest year for which comparable data is available.

Adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, David Kopel, thinks things are about to get worse both for Mexico and for those of us here in the U S of A:

Kopel expects the incoming Biden administration will make cartel violence south of the border a key foreign policy concern.

“Trump’s approach has probably made things better by improving border security. And, of course, the Trump administration – unlike the Obama and Bush administrations – didn’t allow ATF to mastermind gun-smuggling operations into Mexico, for the purpose of later “finding” the crime guns and using the finding to bolster the argument for gun control in the U.S.,” Kopppel said, referring to the 2006-2011 “Fast and Furious” program.

But he said there’s little chance the U.S. will support expanded Mexican gun rights.

“Biden will likely return to the Obama policy of using Mexico’s problems as a pretext to push for restrictions on gun owners in the United States.”

Mexico has long been a fantastic example of what happens when corruption runs rampant in government, trickling down through all levels and factions. You might like to vacation there – hard pass for me – but you’re probably pretty grateful to live in the United States, right? Try to keep in mind that things happening so close to home to indeed affect us. Also remember Mexico and the fact their Constitution does include the right to bear arms. Technically they do allow it, they have just restricted to the point where only the rich can do it (and the rich tend to hire armed guards instead).

What do you guys think, could Mexico’s predicament ever happen here?

 

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45 COMMENTS

      • Want to hear something really crazy, Venezuela is a member of the UN’s council on human rights, and last year they actually reviewed the USA. One of their recommendations (the Council’s) was for the USA to do something about the Gun Show loophole.

        • Too bad there is not, nor has there ever been, a “Gun Show Loophole.”

          FFLs (Gun Dealers) must still perform NICS background checks recorded on ATF form 4473 while selling firearms at a gun show.

          Private citizens can sell their private property (i.e. firearms) at a gun show, provided they’re not doing it as a business (which would then necessitate an Federal Firearms License–AKA FFL).

          Same goes for the “Internet Sales Loophole” I keep hearing about. As anyone who has bought a firearm online knows, you buy the guy then have to designate and coordinate with a local and willing FFL to receive the firearm, log it into their books and perform a background check on the purchasing party (and they usually charge a nominal fee for their services).

          But, you know, the media can’t let facts get in the way of their ideal narrative.

          It’s not what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that ain’t so.

    • Fox news has so many liars on it that even Trump says to go watch NewsMax. Fox helped rig this election. Nothing but liars on Fox for years.

  1. I expect a Harris administration will a puppet of the CCP. But they will not get the chance.

    After my inauguration, I will cut a deal with China. We will give them free soy, rice, wheat, and beef for a year. In return, they have to take the Clinton’s, the Bidens, Kamala Harris, and Mitt Romney. No exchanges or returns.

  2. “Trump’s approach has probably made things better by improving border security.”

    That’s interesting coming from The Cato Institute who pushes the idea of non-stop mass immigration into this country.

    “…the government, which oversees all transactions.”

    Democrats in this country are pushing for the government to micromanage our lives. Someone should tell them that always means less freedom and more corruption. It’s okay though. Obama’s going to make sure the media and tech companies do a better job of keeping us informed.

  3. Can “it” happen here? It already is…anywhere you restrict the 2nd. Ah buy I’m preaching to the choir😔😕😳

    • Some say they’re controlled opposition. Personally not sure but it would make sense. If every single MSM outlet is clearly skewed left, with one slightly to the right, it stands to reason it’s that way by design.

  4. Check out any (now) country settled by spain, including spain.
    All FUBAR ed.
    Is it a moorish thing?
    A mediterranean thing?

    • I would say it is those in power want to keep all the benefits for themselves and damn to hell the serfs.

      In Mexico you have an alliance of cartels, government, police, and military against the people.

    • It’s due to a combination of how the Spanish Empire was run, and geography.

      The Spanish Empire was very poorly run. Though it grew large and powerful it was constantly suffering from huge economic problems. The core reason was the incompetence of the Spanish royal family who’s rulers often suffered mental issues due to inbreeding. Although all royal families did this, they were particularly bad.

      This set up the Spanish colonies, even though they had 100 year start on other nations, up for failure. There’s a bit more involved as time goes on but this is the primary reason. It’s a great example of why history matters, though.

      • They had issues with inflation caused by the gold and silver from the Americas. When you increase the money supply without increasing the quantity of goods and services for sale, prices go up.

  5. “could Mexico’s predicament ever happen here?”

    That depends on how many Mexicans the Biden administration wants to import.

      • Or, just as conversation starter, take Baha as a US territory maybe later a State.

        The US has done this before and I’m ok with that.

        “All your base are belong to us.”

        /jk kinda

        • We can’t even maintain our own infrastructure, how could we handle Baja’s infrastructure?

          Do you realize that Tijuana opens all the manholes in town when it rains, to flush everything out to sea? That driving the first 15 miles into Baja smells like a sewer? That a large amount of the people there live rough, without even a tin roof over their head? Further down, it is no better, just not as crowded? As the American expats wake and go for coffee, the homeless(most who are more on the ball than American homeless), are crawling out of their holes, toothbrush in hand?

          It is much worse than 40 years ago, when we would surf the coast. You wouldn’t dare to surf north of Ensenada, that as far as I went without a visa, but I don’t think that I would even try to get into the ocean at the beach within 15 miles of any city.

  6. The excuse is that all the guns are pouring over the border from the the US, so the poor, brown Mexicans are being murdered by the the white supremacist Second Amendment.

    That’s why the best example is Brazil. Nearly as restrictive as Mexico. Certainly much more restrictive than anti-gunners have been brave enough to openly ask for here (yet). The last I saw, the homicide rate was in the 50s. And they’re a continent away, with no easy way for America’s “lax” gun laws to affect them.

    Brazil has no excuses. The culture has a violence problem, and the gun laws don’t help, like they never do.

    • Bit hard to smuggle stuff through the Darien Gap. It’s that area between Panama and Columbia where there are no roads and nothing but jungle covered mountains and swamps. Half a mile per day of traveling is considered good progress.

    • we once conquered mexico…then, after giving it some thought…decided to give it back because it wasn’t worth the trouble of keeping it….

  7. “What do you guys think, could Mexico’s predicament ever happen here?”

    It is happening in California now. There is no place to buy a firearm or ammo in San Francisco. The closest outdoor range is 10 miles from the city, open only evenings 3 days a week. The nearest indoor range is 30 miles away. There were four but the other three closed within one year.

    • Should rename Fox News, and all other commercial news, Pravda and Izvestia. Because there’s no news in the truth and no truth in the news.

  8. “could it happen here?”
    Are you kidding? Have you bought a silencer lately? How about put a stock on your AR pistol? A pistol brace on your AR pistol, ffs. Could it happen here. How about people of the gun in NY state? NJ? I wonder if THEY think it could happen here.

  9. Why would anyone give a shit about being legal in Mexico?
    It’s almost to that point in the U.S. Where you can riot & block streets without any repercussions but you’ll get a J-walking ticket during the day…..if your white.

  10. Talked with a M8 in Mexico recently. Apparently the cartels have taken over the tollways and the people can’t get the thugs out because the people are disarmed… go figure.

  11. Mexico doesn’t have anything like our Second Amendment.

    Here’s what they’ve got instead:

    Article 10: The inhabitants of the United Mexican States have the right to keep arms in their homes, for security and legitimate defense, with the exception of those prohibited by federal law and those reserved for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy, Air Force and National Guard. Federal law will determine the cases, conditions, requirements, and places in which the carrying of arms will be authorized to the inhabitants.

    They have only the “right” to own whatever the government hasn’t prohibited, and carrying outside the home is prohibited by default. It’s the exact opposite of the Second Amendment, which mandates that a preexisting right of the people shall not be infringed.

  12. I have faith in the Constitution but little faith that U.S. arms owners collectively have the guts to resist this ongoing illegal coup. Seems America watches helplessly as the democrat party picks our pocket. Our only chance to escape armed conflict between the people and the democrat party is for the colossal voter fraud scheme to be struck down by the safeguards guaranteed in our supreme law. If democrats seize the executive branch of government and much of the Congress, options for preserving free enterprise are limited and violent.

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