GAO report blames U.S. gun laws for Mexican crime

June 18, 10:15 AMGun Rights ExaminerDavid Codrea

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(AP Photo/Javier Verdin)

UPDATE: GAO Report available here.

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The "90% of Mexican 'crime guns come from the U.S.'" tactic is back. Depending on the "authorized journalist" bandying it about, the claim may or may not be tempered with qualifiers.

Per The Los Angeles Times:

[T]he growing number of weapons being smuggled into Mexico comprise more than 90% of the seized firearms that can be traced by authorities there.

See, this in itself is sleight of mind. As is this Associated Press "report":

[O]ver the past three years, more than 90 percent of the firearms traced after being seized in Mexico have come from the US. The figure is slightly less over a five-year period.

"While it is impossible to know how many firearms are illegally trafficked into Mexico in a given year, over 20,000, or around 87 percent, of firearms seized by Mexican authorities and traced over the past 5 years originated in the United States"...

We also learn an interesting factoid:

ATF did not tell ICE about a covert operation where ATF agents delivered weapons across the border in an attempt to ferret out the Mexican organizations receiving illegal arms. ATF should have notified ICE about the controlled attempt to export weapons illegally, the GAO said. Lack of coordination raised the chances that the weapons could end up in the wrong hands.

That's almost funny.

Back to The Times:

[I]llegally obtained U.S. weapons -- including an increasing number of automatic rifles -- are being used to kill thousands of Mexican police, soldiers, elected officials and civilians, the report said.

"Illegally obtained."

Seeing as how mere citizens can't buy post-Hughes Amendment full autos, and the controls to legally purchase older machine guns include registration, paying a tax and getting your application signed by your local chief law enforcement officer, not to mention paying an exorbitant price because of limited supply and open demand, one can only wonder if ICE was correct in suspecting government conduits for unlawful transfers...

And then we have this departure from talking points by The Wall Street Journal:

In 2008, of the almost 30,000 weapons seized by Mexican law enforcement, only 7,200 were submitted to the bureau for tracing, the study said. The number of weapons submitted would be higher were it not for bureaucratic problems, U.S. and Mexican officials said, according to the study.

Now wait a minute...90% of 7,200 out of 30,000...and then one report claims 20,000 are 90% of guns seized over the past five years...would somebody please give us a straight set of comparable numbers?

And what happened to the "305,424 confiscated weapons locked in vaults, just a fraction of those used by criminals in Mexico..."?

Yeah, sounds like "bureaucratic problems," doesn't it?

So why the renewed interest in numbers, and what's the upshot?

The Government Accountability Office is releasing their report on arms trafficking to Mexico. And they'll be using it to stump for "policy change," which is a euphemism for infringing on your and my right to own and sell firearms.

Among their reported recommendations? Back to The Times:

Some findings cited laws and policies in the U.S. and Mexico that could make it difficult to institute lasting reforms such as lax U.S. laws for collecting and reporting information on firearms purchases, and a lack of required background checks for private firearms sales.

Ah, so that's it. See, the problem is, criminals laugh at all the laws against illegal purchases and international arms trafficking that we have now--those are for the suckers who obey them. But if we can just enact a few more prohibitions that will affect the "law-abiding," why everything will fall into place!

And we can confidently make these recommendations while admitting that the data we're using to extrapolate a conclusion is nowhere near complete. But once we get those "bureaucratic problems" ironed out, why, we "expect to fix" that any time now. In the mean time, let's pass more 'gun control" edicts!

Here's the GAO's "mission," just in case anyone's interested (because they don't appear to be):

[T]o support the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. We provide Congress with timely information that is objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, nonideological, fair, and balanced.

Funny, I don't see a word about advocating infringements on the right of the people to keep and bear arms through mandatory registration and ending private sales of our property...of course, I don't see that in the charter for Congress, either...

I wanted to be able to link Gun Rights Examiner readers to the report itself, but it is not yet posted on the GAO website. I called and spoke to a nice lady there who told me it should be available online later today. I'll be watching for it, and will post a link to it as soon as I see it.

In the mean time, here's some stuff that can bring you up to date on what we've learned so far about this outrage of making our rights conditional based on the activities of foreign criminals:

• What does 'Operation Southbound Steel' tell us about smuggling U.S. guns to Mexico?
• Do 90% of Mexican 'crime guns' come from U.S.?
• We're being lied to about U.S. guns and Mexican cartels. Why?
• Do U.S. government arms exports play a part in arming Mexican cartels?
• Exposing lies about U.S. guns and Mexican crime
• Mexican warehouse exposes gun grabber cartel lies
• The Mexican 'dog and pony show' on guns
• U.S. 'gun control' not the answer to Mexican crime
• Mexican prison break shows deeper problems than U.S. guns
• More 'gun control' won't stop drug war corruption and violence
• Some journalists won't admit truth about Mexican 'crime gun' numbers

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You're the problem!

Oregon Firearms Federation tells us about an unbelievable politician who blames gun rights activists for killing a bill because they didn't want their privacy violated.

But that's OK, because her "husband and son are hunters and guns have been a part of our family's culture."

Good grief.

Click here to read more.

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