mangrumsNet

I recently commented on a press release from the Mexican embassy in D.C.  The first section of their statement said, in part,

...the Government of Mexico trusts that this decision will help to channel additional US resources to enhance efforts to prevent the illegal flows of weapons and bulk cash into Mexico, which provide organized crime with its firepower and its ability to corrupt.

Again I say it's pretty convenient to blame the U.S. as the source for all of these weapons in the hands of criminals. Last Monday, however, mexidata.info published an article with some interesting tidbits from the Mexico City paper El Universal.  So what is the real deal?  Kurt Hofmann at the St. Louis Gun Rigths Examiner does a good job of tying it all together.

The fable of the U.S. civilian gun market being responsible for "arming" Mexico's brutal drug cartels has become so deeply entrenched, that to question it is to be labeled a "right wing gun lobby shill."  The claimed numbers, though, as National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea points out, have continued to drop, as more light is shed on the actual facts.

Hence, the Brady Campaign's and Violence Policy Center's claims of "95 to 100%" of Mexican "crime guns" coming from the U.S. civilian market first dropped a bit to "over 90%," and now Mexican President Felipe Calderón has settled on 80% (with Brady Campaign backing).

What  those who toss these numbers around rarely mention, if not pressed, or under oath, is that whatever the percentage they're currently quoting, that's the percentage of guns submitted to the BATFE for tracing (and successfully traced).   We've discussed the fact that Senator John Kerry (D-MA)--no friend to gun owners--admitted once that only about a quarter of the seized guns are ever submitted for BATFE tracing.  Go to Mr. Codrea's piece to see the details (here's the link again), especially the National Shooting Sports Foundation's (NSSF) explanation.

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