No answers yet about guns found at Border Patrol agent death scene

“[F]ederal law enforcement sources have confirmed that two guns, part of a series of purchases that were being monitored by authorities, were found at the scene of the firefight that killed a U.S. Border Patrol agent in southern Arizona,” The Los Angeles Times reported on February 2, corroborating allegations raised on the CleanUpATF website last December.

Since those early discussion, and following allegations and reports made at the Sipsey Street Irregulars blog and in this column, the number of estimated guns involved has risen dramatically, from “500” in the December entry, to a new estimate, posted early this morning:

As “gunwalker” continues to gain attention, the guys in the Phoenix Division rumored that the number of “walked” guns could be as high as 3,000.

It’s not a stretch to assume this many guns allowed into the hands of DTOs (Drug Trafficking Organizations) have been and continue to be criminally used.

I speculated as much in an earlier column:

If two “monitored” guns were found at a crime scene,  how many more might be out there, used in operations that still threaten U.S. and Mexican citizens as well as law enforcement on both sides of the border?

As did Mike Vanderboegh, in a letter you’ll be hearing more about soon:

Statistical probability and plain logic indicates that far more than one of your own citizens have already been killed by them since this operation began.

Yet in spite of this clear and present danger, we know virtually nothing about the two guns seized at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. A full month ago, I asked:

• What does ATF trace data show?
• Were any prior traces ever run on this particular firearm, and what did they show?

And again in spite of the revelations and disclosures raised here and on Sipsey Street Irregulars—disclosures that continue to be consistently corroborated when examined by independent investigators—no one has been able to verify the most basic facts about these guns aside from their characterization as “AK-47s.” We don’t know their make or their origin—and by “we,” I mean anyone outside of those who apparently have strong personal interests in keeping that information to themselves.

The excuse that there is an ongoing criminal investigation doesn’t cut it.  There’s an ongoing criminal investigation in the Gabrielle Giffords case, and that hasn’t stopped information about the gun used from being revealed, including its manufacturer and where it was purchased from.

Perhaps if our government will still not disclose basic information about the guns themselves, and it's unclear how hard the media is pressing them on this, they can instead be asked if the Mexican government has now been fully informed of the scope and nature of this “monitoring” operation gone awry. One would think they need every scrap of information our people can provide them, and, according to the highest authorities at the Department of Justice, that—as opposed to intentionally keeping them in the dark—is supposed to be official policy in the first place:

“The Criminal Division is working hard with its partners in the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and colleagues in Mexico to find and prosecute those who seek to transport weapons illegally across our borders.”

You know who said that, don’t you?

Also see:

• A journalist's guide to 'Project Gunwalker' (Summary with links of everything written to date on Sipsey Street Irregulars and Gun Rights Examiner)
• Make Sipsey Street Irregulars a daily stop to check for updates.

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Project Guntalker

I’ll be discussing “Project Gunwalker” and a lot more tonight on Armed American Radio with host Mark Walters. The show is on from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm EST and I’ll be on in the 10:00 segment.

Click here to find a radio station near you, or here to listen (and watch) live on your computer.

What, there’s nothing else going on tonight, is there?

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