No Thanks President Calderon, We'll Keep Our Freedoms

If one wants to look at what America would look like without the second amendment, all you need to do is look south of the border. One of President Calderon's key messages to the US was to re-instate the federal assault weapons ban so assault weapons would stop “pouring over the border" and arming the cartels. This is of course a lie. The idea that somehow an assault weapons ban would stop the shipments of military grade small arms to Mexico, is political posturing and has no element of truth; the weapons described by President Calderon are already so tightly regulated in the US, that in all but a few cases, they are already banned. The difference is quite simple, the assault weapons used by the cartels are fully automatic M16's and M4's. The popular AR-15's in the US are not fully automatic, not military grade, and actually more expensive on the world market than their fully automatic big brothers. Further, there is already a ban against selling these weapons to Mexicans Nationals, or any other non-citizen. What President Calderon is hesitant to admit, is the vast majority of the military grade small arms that fall into the hands of the cartels are funnelled through the Mexican military and other international arms dealers across Guatemalan border The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S. . Where else could one get grenades launchers with live grenades and their big brothers Rocket Propelled Grenades? These are the munitions that are commonly seized and blamed on sales from the US, as if one could go down to your local Big 5 and buy an RPG.

That is not to say that some small arms are not bought by Mexican Nationals. You see, firearms are forbidden to the citizenry in Mexico, so the only firearms in Mexico are in the hands of the corrupt law enforcement, the military, the cartels and of course other criminals (it just like the bumper sticker, "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns). Mexico has the distinction of having the highest crime rate in the world. Further the police and military are either hunkered down in bunkers fearful of an attack from the cartels or working for the cartels themselves. This leaves the cartels and other criminals to pretty much have their way with the unarmed citizenry. Further the Mexican government, which continually exerts control over it's citizenry with fear and intimidation, certainly doesn't want a citizenry that can fend for itself. So the citizenry is forced to sneak across the border, and either find to send money south to their families, or obtain some form of self defense and return to his crime ridden homeland; this is apparently the state President Calderon would like to see the US citizenry.

What makes the US different from all other countries, and specifically different than Mexico, is the right that the people control (or are) the government. The second amendment, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed", was added to secure that right. The constitution has the audacity to say the people's right to own firearms is necessary to secure the power of the people over it's government. The second amendment does not protect the right to bear arms for hunting and sport shooting, the second amendment prohibits an over reaching federal government from disarming the states, so the states can maintain their autonomy. But, oppressive governments like Mexico do not want an empowered electorate and unfortunately Calderon seems to have found friends in President Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder. The argument is simple, do we want America more like Mexico, or does Mexico want to be more like America; 10-30 million illegal aliens can't be wrong.