I kinda thought that needed saying. In fact, let me say it again: under the Obama Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives created a secret program called “Fast and Furious.” This black bag job actively encouraged the transfer of some 2000 firearms—the majority of which were assault rifles—from American gun stores to known members of a Mexican drug cartel. These ATF-enabled illegal buyers then distributed those weapons to vicious criminals, who used those weapons to intimidate, torture, wound, rape, murder and kill hundreds of innocent people. Drug thugs used at least one of these assault rifles to murder U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. And U.S. Customs Agent Jaime Zapata. And now we learn that an ATF agent personally purchased and supplied criminals with a gun used in a recent murder. Fox News provides the outrageous details of a transaction that reveals the Obama Administration’s unconscionable hypocrisy . . .
A FN Five-Seven semi-automatic pistol, a high powered handgun originally restricted to military and law enforcement customers was recovered by Mexican police at the scene of a Nov. 23 shootout between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Mexican military.
[ED: The U.S. government never restricted sales of the FN FiveSeven, just the type of ammunition available. FiveSeven video above. Gun reviewed here.]
Records show the gun was purchased in January 2010 by George Gillett, the former No. 2 in the ATF office in Phoenix. Gillett now works at ATF headquarters in Washington as a liaison to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Gillett purchased the weapon at Legendary Arms, a Phoenix gun store. On the federal form 4473 used to buy the gun, Gillett used the ATF office address, 201 East Washington, and said “Apt 940.” On subsequent purchase, Gillett used a commercial address, that of a strip mall.
Both actions are illegal, since ATF regulations require buyers use their residential address.
“Lying on form 4473 is a felony and can be punished by up to five years in prison in addition to fines,” Sen. Charles Grassley said in a letter Wednesday to Michael Horowitz in the Office of Inspector General. “I request that you initiate an investigation into these matters and that you specifically examine whether Mr. Gillett was the purchaser as indicated by these documents, why the forms list multiple, inaccurate residential addresses while purchasing the weapons, and how the weapon purchased on January 7, 2010 ended up in Mexico.”
Gillett’s gun was found in Sinaloa after a gun battle that killed Mexican beauty queen Maria Susana Gamez. Gamez was reportedly fighting alongside the cartel. Police found a weapon similar to an AK-47 and some 50 bullets next to her body. Another weapon found at the crime scene was traced to a Uriel Patino, who illegally bought more than 600 guns and is a main suspect in the controversial Operation Fast and Furious run out of the Phoenix office of the ATF.
And these are just the guns we know about; the Mexican government has imposed a blackout on the records of the make, model and serial numbers of weapons—most of which are assault rifles—found at crime scenes; information they used to provide before the Obama administration launched Operation Fast and Furious.
And these are just the assault rifles enabled by the ATF. Lest we forget, the U.S. government has supplied hundreds of thousands of fully automatic assault rifles to the Mexican military and police, knowing full well that these guns seep to killers who make Adam Lanza seem like a peace worker. Gunmen who have committed mass murder.
I repeat: some 150,000 Mexican soldiers have defected to the cartels. That’s at least 100,000 American-made fully automatic assault rifles transferred to narco-terrorists. How about the Obama administration do something to get the blood off their hands before they try to take away the firearms in law-abiding citizens’ hands?
1000? that is more than 3 times the number of rifle related murders in the USA in 2011, which was 323 murders.
-D
It’s one thing for Fox news to call the FiveseveN “high-powered”, but if we’re discussing semi-automatic “assault rifles” can we at lease distinguish them from the real thing with a “heathly” dose of quotation marks or other blatent *wink* punctuation?
Or am I reading that wrong; the semi-autos F&F guns were different from the military defectors, right?
I feel like all guns are “high powered.” To call one high powered is to imply that others are not. It’s all relative, thus none should be called high powered.
Assault rifles, by definition, use intermediate power calibers. 7.62×39, 5.56, 5.45×39, etc etc. These are all moderately powered calibers designed for effective combat ranges up to about 200 yards and offer reduced recoil for accurate off hand shooting and weight for the ammo.
Full powered cartridges are going to be things like 7.62x54r, .308, .303, 30-06, and so on and so forth. These are used for battle rifles and are used for situations were engagement ranges can exceed 250 yards or for typical hunting situations in North America.
Now the real ‘high powered’ stuff is magnum hunting stuff and for specialty cartridges used in hunting large and/or dangerous game.
The ‘low power’ ammo is pistol ammo. Used in handguns and submachine guns. 9mm, .45, 357 magnum, .40 s&w, etc etc etc.
Then at the bottom is the rimfire. Typically .22lr
Basically the people in the media are jackasses and don’t know what the hell they are talking about. Same thing with people in government office.
And they are not only ignorant about guns. They are ignorant and wrong about most things. They are wrong about oil. They are run about computers and computer security. They are wrong about the climate. Every subject they touch is full of inaccuracies, childish/inane commentary, terrible analyzing, and misleading statements. They are just lazy, arrogant, dickheads that only care about their agenda and selling you to the advertisers.
Military style rifles are only for the government citizen. Fall back in line.
Expecting truth from a politician is like expecting charity from a banker. Glad I voted my mind and conscience this year. F****** demagogues…
Obama is a media darling. He could’ve been the Connecticut shooter and they’d probably still have named him “Person of the Year” in Time magazine. Plus it’s his last term; he’s the lamest duck there is, knowing he can ride out the next few years laughing at the American public all the way.
Nobel Peace Prize II coming right up.
“Nobel Peace Prize II coming right up.”—- no $hit. Just wait til he becomes the president that brought “realistic common sense” gun legislation the the US and saved millions of children from evil assault weapons.
He gonna have room to fit it on his mantle, what, with all those Gunrunner of the Year trophies taking up all that space?
Kinda of reminds me when i shoot a real 10 mike mike.
20mm Bushmaster Chain fed automatic cannon.
Single shot. Slow fire rate. High fire rate.
Makes hamburger at 2,000yrds.
Holder and Feinstein et all need to make a “The Lies About Guns” website! Who do you suppose would take the MikeB spot? I know I’d be a regular commentor on TLAG…
They wouldn’t allow dissenting comments and you know it.
This.
It’s mind blowing (if not exactly surprising) that Gillett’s gun was found at a Mexican crime scene. And a straw purchaser at that. Well, well, well, fancy that. How I’d love to see him get shunted away into a SuperMax with the real players for the maximum term. If only…
He’ll get pardoned before he ever even gets convicted. Truth be told, however, I doubt he’ll ever even be indicted.
I wonder what Hillary will have to say at the hearings on the State Department’s involvement. No doubt she’ll have a spell of vertigo or perhaps an in grown toenail when it comes to her time to testify.
I hope that Issa, Grassley, Chaffetz and Gowdy go after these bastards, hammer and tongs, when the new Congress convenes.
They might try to make a show of it, but I seriously doubt it. The elite pols in this country are all in bed together, regardless of party. Afterall, Barry O sure as hell didn’t do $h1t when it came to prosecuting W for all his war crimes and constitutional violations (not to mention those two misadventures in imperialism that were nothing more than a giant graft-laden grifting of the treasury by Cheney’s defense contractor buddies).
Well Robert you seem old enough to have heard this and know it applies to the government.
“Do as I say not as I do.”
Welcome to the Fuhrer Obama and his twisted fascist world bad guys are good we the people are bad that’s his stupid twisted mind.
The ugly truth:
Many Americans could care less about the bloodshed in Mexico because the people dying are Mexican. Regardless of whether or not it’s done through arms provided by the US gov’t / ATF / DEA etc.
Maybe they’ll start to care when more violence spills over the southern border.
If it spills into the white suburbs, yeah. If it’s limited to the barrios of Tucson and southern California or the inner-city of Houston (i.e., only non-whites getting hurt by the fallout), sadly, no, I don’t believe anyone will care.
Hundreds more innocent Mexican citizens have been murdered by the guns in Fast & Furious than all the innocent American citizens murdered by ‘scary black rifles’ in the hands of civilians. All the murders were wrong. Nothing is being done to address the hundreds murdered because of the BATFE operation.
For Mexico’s sake, I hope they find oil down there somewhere. Then, maybe the U.S. will get seriously involved. By seriously-involved, of course, I mean waste a metric funkton of taxpayer money in no-bid defense contracts and install an American-friendly despot whose no more of a friend to the Mexican people than their current “government.”
Lot’s of hypocrisy on both sides of this issue. We like to say that guns don’t kill people, but we want to say that the Fast & Furious guns killed people?
Dude, guns do kill people. That’s the whole point. But it takes a person to use a gun and kill people. The fast and furious guns were knowingly supplied to known bad people in the hopes that they would kill other known bad people, but they ended up also using them to kill good people.
This is to be contrasted with fun control, which aims to keep guns out of the hands of known bad people bit instead disarms good people, leaving the only people with guns bad people, who then use them on other people good and bad.
As Eddie izzard said: people kill people, but guns certainly help.
Seriously, let’s ban together and elect Republicans to the Senate requiring promises to have a real trial after congress impeaches Obama. It’s time to oust every person who supports an assault weapons ban or any other infringement upon our rights.
You guys do know that Attorney Genral Eric Holder is on Vice President Biden’s Gun Conteol Task Force. Right?
Not just that all,s same group ant gun groups spear head buy Fraternal Order of Police, International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Association of Police Organizations. This groups all have history of want ban all guns for civilian sale owener ship.
The liat those attend Joe Biden gun control task force. No one from Nra. But ever one from gun control side.
Attendees included Thomas Nee, president of the National Association of Police Organizations; Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, president of Police Executive Research Forum & Major Cities Chiefs Association; and Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police.
“You have a much more holistic view about how to deal with violence on our streets and in our country,” Biden said. He added, “I know you all; I know you well.”
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were also in the meeting, as were senior White House officials, including presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Why not make the title a petition on “we the people”? No more federal regulations unless they practice what they preach.
Normally, I would say it takes a special kind of combination of balls and stupidity to be both dumb enough and brazen enough to have not only an ATF agent, but the second in command at the closest ATF Field Office to the carnage down on the border (seriously, WTF, they couldn’t get some dumb, eager-to-please, college intern whelp to go get his or her hands dirty?!) to be the straw purchaser. But then I remembered, what’s this guy care? He’s just gonna get a federal pardon before Obama checks out of the White House, assuming there are even charges brought, which I doubt. If Vegas posted odds on such things, I seriously doubt they would put a line on Holder recusing himself of any investigation into this (maybe publicly he’d claim he’s going to, but in practice, no fuggin’ way).
Researching the “Fast and Furious” mess, Wikipedia among other sources state it began in 2006! Wasn’t Obama elected in 2008? Inagurated Jan 20, 2009? Lets give credit where credit is due. The program was started under the Bush administration. Just saying………
From a semantic standpoint (and according to the source you sighted – Wikipedia), Operation Fast & Furious did not begin until October 31, 2009. The feds conducted Operation Wide Reciever and a few other small probes under the Bush administration during 2006-2008. No indictments were made from the Bush-era operations until 2010.
Operation Fast & Furious itself though, ran from 2009 to 2011 (fully within Obama’s first term), when information regarding the related activities started becoming public.
Operation Wide Reciever, and other Bush-era probes involved approximately 1100 firearms. Roughly 250 were recovered (%23).
Operation Fast & Furious involved approximately 2000 firearms. Rougly 650 were recovered (%33).
(The true numbers are clouded by several variables, due to their manner of purchase and ultimate destinations. Recovered firearms primarily seem to come from crime scenes, and cooperation between US and Mexican agencies on these matters has not been ideal. As such, actual figures may never be known)
So, yes, gun-walking started under the Bush administration. The numbers, as hazy as they may be, seem to indicate that the tactic was ramped up significantly during the Obama administration. Both share some blame for the results of this failed experiement, though the numbers indicate Obama’s administration might deserve a larger portion of that blame.
As an aside, I’m generally loathe to use Wikipedia as a source, but thought it appropriate since you pointed it out. The content of the article as a whole seems to largely disagree with the conclusion you’ve arrived at.
You also want to point out that “Operation Wide-Receiver”, under Bush, was done with the FULL cooperation of the Mexican government!
Fast and Furious, on the other hand, was NEVER a joint operation between our two countries.
There is also a “conspiracy theory” of sorts that the MAIN reason for Fast and Furious was to accomplish exactly what this shooting has done, which is to DISARM the American public, 2nd Amendment be damned!
“There is also a “conspiracy theory” of sorts that the MAIN reason for Fast and Furious was to accomplish exactly what this shooting has done, which is to DISARM the American public, 2nd Amendment be damned!”
The Newtown shooting has not disarmed the American people yet, and I wish all of us who believe in gun rights would stop talking as if we had already lost the argument.
“Jon”, I never said we had already lost the argument!
Get a grip, will you?
This was the defining event that made me change my opinion of Obama from an ill-informed president to an evil man. As head of the executive branch he really only had one job, even though he took on many others outside the scope of his authority. But then he did the exact opposite of protecting American citizens when he armed criminals. This man broke his oath, and makes a mockery of his office.
Wait, wait, everyone hold up a second.
Since when does the administration want to keep people from buying Mosin-Nagants?