Since Barack Obama took office in 2009, the commonly-accepted mantra of the Administration, and many within the major news organizations, is that the violence associated with Mexican drug cartels is fueled by guns that came from the United States due to its 'lax gun control laws.' Indeed, the dangerous 'Zetas' drug cartel obtained weapons in the United States for their criminal activity both in Mexico and throughout the American Southwest.
However, the manner in which the Zetas obtained those weapons directly contradicts the official Administration stance on the consequences of lax gun control laws.
The Zetas obtained their weapons through a little-publicized program implemented by the U.S. State Department called 'U.S. Direct Commercial Sales.' The program was intended to regulate the sale of U.S. firearms to other countries, and a direct commercial sale of a firearm requires an export license. However, as it has been demonstrated repeatedly with the Project Gunwalker Scandal at the ATF, honorable intentions often go terribly awry, particularly when widespread corruption infects a multiplicity of government agencies.
Further, one of the leaders of the Zetas cartel insists that ALL of their weapons were obtained in the U.S., many of which were sold to them by the United States government, according to a direct quote provided by the Washington Times. The evidence strongly suggests that this is true. The cartel did not obtain weapons due to lax U.S. gun control laws but due to the activity of a program operated by the State Department. And as it has been repeatedly reported, the guns that were not bought through the government program were likely supplied to the cartel by the illegal scheme perpetrated by the ATF.
According to published reports, the cartel bought many of their weapons in Dallas through U.S. Direct Commercial Sales, which begs the question, why would a program operating under the auspices of the State Department sell firearms to one of the most dangerous drug cartels in Mexico? In addition, it just so happens that the airfield in Fort Worth from which the Zetas fly their guns southward is the same airport used by the DEA--the Drug Enforcement Administration. Is this mere coincidence or an indication of even more sinister activity by an agency of the U.S. government?
Another major issue arises with regard to the nature of Direct Commercial Sales purchases. The program is set up so that the sale of U.S. guns to foreign entities involve direct negotiations with the governments of those countries purchasing the weapons. The description of the program specifically states that it regulates the sale of U.S. firearms to other countries or international organizations.
How, then, did a drug cartel purchase weapons through this program when it is neither an international organization nor a government?
Reports indicate that the cartel set up a company in Mexico that negotiated the sales with U.S. firearms manufacturers who are regulated and controlled by U.S. Direct Commercial Sales.
All of these factors are of critical importance to understanding the dangerous ramifications of allowing such a cartel to buy weapons, set up shop in Columbus, New Mexico by purchasing land where it can store its weapons, and then spread mayhem throughout the Southwest, the Midwest, and the Southeast.
At the top of these consequences is the fact that 30,000 Mexicans near the border have been murdered in 3 years. That violence has spilled across the border into the U.S. Ranchers in Texas have had their land seized by the Zetas. Countless individuals have had their lives threatened or snuffed out. And during the July 4 weekend of this year, American citizens were warned not to travel across the border at Laredo due to the fact that the Zetas had threatened to target any U.S. citizen who traveled to the region.
Further, an even more sinister consequence of the U.S. Government's involvement in selling guns to the Zetas is a push by the Obama Administration to enact drastic and restrictive gun control regulations. As indicated in this 2010 report on Project Gunrunner, the Administration has the stated goal of requiring gun stores to report the sales of all 'long guns.'
And while the report alleges that the vast majority of guns used by the cartels came from the United States, the report contradicts itself in admitting that the majority of Mexican guns are not traceable, meaning the government has no way of knowing that they came from the States, and that the guns that they do know originated in the States were placed there either by the ATF's own program, or U.S. Direct Commercial Sales.
The bottom line is that the DOJ's own internal report on the Gunrunner program shows that the ultimate goal of the entire operation was to manufacture phony statistics in order to make a case for tighter gun control, despite the fact that its own figures do not support the assumption that most Mexican guns come from the United States.
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