Gun Control Advocates Respond to ATF Gun Smuggling. Finally.

Many of you have been wondering how and when The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and their ilk would respond to recent revelations that the U.S. federal government has been smuggling firearms to Mexican drug cartels. I mean, Fast and Furious kinda messes-up their whole “U.S. gun dealers are arming the cartels so let’s ban assault weapons in America” gestalt. In conjunction with their Mexican counterparts, the gun control advocates have finally broken their silence. They’ve condemned the Obama administration (for its police and military weapons sales to Mexico that seep to the cartels) and the ATF (for enabling some two thousand U.S. weapons in their “guns for goons” black bag job). Kidding. The gun control cartel want the Commander-in-Chief to end-run Congress and grab him some guns! I present the Alto a las Armas manifesto . . .

President Barack Obama     
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President:

The official evidence is indisputable. Between 2006 and 2010, 34,162 Mexicans have been executed (data from the Mexican government), 5,397 have disappeared, and 11,333 migrants from other countries were kidnapped between April and September of 2010 (National Commission on Human Rights, Mexico). On top of that, from 2007 to 2010, 283 U.S. citizens have been killed in Mexico (U.S. Department of State). It is believed that the majority of these acts were perpetuated for reasons linked to crime and violence.

A U.S. agency estimated that between 2004 and 2008, 84% of the arms seized on crime scenes in Mexico came from the United States. A large percentage of them were assault weapons that had been previously imported to the United States. For example, since 2006, AK-47 assault rifles manufactured in Romania have been the most commonly purchased weapons in U.S. markets with the purpose of being sent to Mexico. You have the authority to use existing legislation that prohibits the importation of weapons other than for sporting purposes – and assault weapons are not for sport.

Violence destroys lives and families, and it threatens Mexican democracy.

Mr. President, you can take three actions that do not require the approval
of the U.S. Congress:

• Immediately detain and prohibit the importation of assault weapons to the United States, because many of them are sent as contraband to Mexico.

• Order dealers to report to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) the sale of multiple assault rifles to the same person over a period of five days.

• Increase the regulatory capacity of the ATF in those regions of the United States that supply the weapons contraband to Mexico, especially in border states.

The adoption of these measures is in the best interest of your country and is a form of reaffirming your commitment to human rights.

Sincerely,

The Organizers 
In Mexico: Alianza Cívica, Propuesta Cívica, Cencos, Evolución Mexicana, etc.
In the United States: Global Exchange, Washington Office on Latin America, etc.

 

Yup, that ought to do it. Or . . . not. Still, a misleading statistic is a terrible thing to waste.