Mexican Government Importing Most US Guns Used by Cartels

This should not come as any surprise, but the US has been exporting tens of thousands of military grade M4s to the military and police in Mexico. Mexican authorities are purchasing the firearms through a program called "direct commercial sales", where they order the firearms directly from the US manufacturer and only need the request signed off by the US State Department (aka ex Sec of State Hillary Clinton 2009-2013), unfortunately about a quarter or more of these guns are ending up in the hands of the cartels. One of driving forces behind this transfer of weapons to the cartels is since 2007, over 150,000 Mexican soldiers have defected to the cartels "and I think it's safe to assume that when they defect they take their firearms with them." In 2006 Mexico bought about 2500 rifles, however since the end of the Fast and Furious program, Mexico has upped the purchase by almost a factor of 10; 18,700 in 2009 (the State Department estimates 26% of these rifles ended up in the hands of the cartels or other "unfavorable" results). "The Mexican military recently reported nearly 9,000 police weapons "missing."" Since 2010 "the State Department has since stopped disclosing numbers of guns it approves", but if we use 20,000 as an average, Mexico has imported about 100,000 M4's in the last 5 years. Legal US Gun Sales to Mexico Arming Cartels
 
This also seems to undermine the entire Straw Purchase complaint and investigation that was the impetus for the failed debacle that was Fast and Furious. Sure, there have been those that buy guns in the US and smuggle them into Mexico, but due to the relative small numbers, most of those where offered for purchase to civilians, not the cartel. Further Fast and Furious threw a monkey wrench into investigating the the Mexican Straw Purchase smuggling, when the DOJ encouraged FFL dealers to sell guns to suspected smugglers. This greatly increased the amount of firearms that were being smuggled into Mexico (as most the dealers would not normally sell to the suspected Straw Purchase, smugglers but did so at the behest of Eric Holder and the DOJ) so some of them ended up in the hands of the cartels. But again the mother load of US firearms in Mexico were legally imported by the Mexican Army and Police and it is these firearms that have been arming the cartels.

So, the next time you hear complaints about US guns in the hands of the cartels (as from the Mexican or US President) it's worth remembering that vast majority (in 2009, Mexico had become one of the world's largest purchasers of U.S. guns through direct commercial sales) were imported by the Mexican Government themselves, who are so inept and corrupt, that they can't keep the guns out of the hands of the cartels..
 

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.

The American Flag is not racist

One of the newest Left rantings is in reaction to a number of High School students who wore shirts depicting the American flag on Cinco de Mayo, claiming it was race baiting. The idea is patently absurd which I'll explain later. Race baiting is Nancy Pelosi with a gavel the size of Thor and the Congressional Black caucus walking through a sea of Tea Party members, hoping for a racist reaction. And when nothing racist occurred, it didn’t matter, congressman Emanuel Cleaver, despite the incident being on video tape, claimed he was the victim of the N-word. That is race baiting. I mention the new Arizona law, but solely as another example of race baiting. The issues are certainly not as stated by the Left and Latino activist; it is not racial profiling. The Arizona simply parrots the federal law that is not being enforced. The issue is stopping any real attempt at enforcing the laws against illegal immigration on the southern border. If the federal government suddenly starts to enforce the law, the racist rhetoric will be the same.

Wearing the American flag, no matter the circumstances, is simply a sign of patriotism. But that hasn’t stop the Left from claiming that Cinco de Mayo is a day of Mexican pride, and the appearance of the American flag is a slap in the face of Mexican racial pride, referred to as La Raza (the Race). This is where the argument gets convoluted. When a Hispanic refers to La Raza, they are intimating racial pride. Mexican Nationals have no visceral connection to their form of government and they cannot understand a people who do. Mexican Nationals view their flag as a representation of their race, not necessarily their government. So, when Mexican Nationals, or those with a similar view of the Mexican flag, see someone displaying the American flag, or a shirt depicting the flag, they interpret it as a sign of white racial pride, not patriotism.

However there is also a segment of the Mexican culture that knows very well the meaning of the American flag and those are the Marxist. These self-described revolutionaries believe they are walking in the shoes of Castro, Che and Chavez of Venezuela. The Marxists using the rallying call of "reconquista", or the re-conquest of the land acquired Mexican American wars of 1846 and 1848. These Marxist usually have limited connections to Mexico itself, but are second and third generation Mexicans living in the United States. Like all Marxists their main enemy is Capitalism and they expound continually on the white man’s oppression of the Mexican worker. They proclaim the US/Mexican border as racist against the Mexicans, while combining Marxist rhetoric and racial pride. There is also an attempt to portray all Hispanics as having the same mindset, which conveniently ignores the rampant racism that exist within Mexico and between the Hispanic countries in Central America.

Again, unlike Mexican Nationals, US citizens define themselves by their form of government. The American flag, far from being a representation of a race or even a people born within a nation's borders, represents to the American people, freedom and liberty; that within the precepts of our Constitution and Declarations are the inherent rights of man that is our national pride. Further, it would seem the Mexicans in general have given up on their own country. Within their consciousness, there is a rationalization that the prosperity in the land of the reconquista, is not a result of the prosperity from US industry and Capitalism, but the control over the land. Yet, their own country, richer in natural resources that the US, but controlled by corrupt government, is abandoned. The reasoning harkens back to similar times in history; create a common enemy of the people to distract from the real problems within the state.

Then there are the expected attacks from the Left. One blog writer even went so far as to quote the United States Code Title 4 on The Respect for Flag. This of course was the banning of wearing/burning the American flag, which was determined to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1989/ 1990. The blogger appears to be typical of the Left, who's values blow the direction of the wind of political expediency. They burn the American flag as a symbol of American Imperialism, but pretend come to its defense when it suits their political purposes. The American flag is the American flag. It does represent a race, it represents the American way of life that is made up of many races. Americans do not see a race violating its southern border, they see (primarily) Mexican Nationals fleeing a corrupt country, for a better life; and generally they have been welcomed. Still, the federal government has been lax with border security and the criminal activity at the border is out of control. The welcoming spirit of the American citizen still abides legal immigration, but has now ended with illegal immigration. The unintended consequences of turning a blind eye to illegal immigration, are the entitlements now expected from the US. The denial of these entitlements is resulting in the accusations of racism and the national conversation is reaching the point impatients. The result has been the mantra, “not racist, not violent, just no longer silent.” Americans know what their flag represents; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Come here legally and it’s all yours. Come here illegally and we’ll be looking for you; nothing that doesn’t happen every day, in every other nation on the planet.