Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Here is an email I received about Mexico and illegal guns (long)

Like I said I received this email and it is a long read and may or may not be true but it does make sense to me.

This is a rather long read but interesting.





Ralph Weller
March 1 2009

Let's set things straight right up front. Yes, some guns are
being smuggled into Mexico from the U.S. Most are handguns. But,
handguns are being illegally trafficked from state to state and
from the U.S. to Canada. It should come as no surprise that guns
are smuggled into Mexico. But, the problem being portrayed by the
U.S. media and our government is not as it seems. You see, Mexico
doesn't allow ownership of most firearms, so ordinary Mexican
people seeking self-protection will find a way to get them into
Mexico. As for the drug cartels operating in the border towns
along the U.S., they have other sources for their weapons and have
become the prime supplier within Mexico.

I worked in Mexico in a border town for about five years. It was
far enough from San Diego County in the Sonora Desert of Mexico
that commuting several hundred miles daily was impossible. So,
for a few years I lived in the city and commuted home periodically
on some weekends. As crime grew out of control, I eventually
moved into a place on the U.S. side and commuted daily in and out
of Mexico for my own safety.

I stayed in Mexico for a Mexican holiday my first year. I don't
recall the holiday. Normally, I would leave Mexico for a holiday,
but it was in the middle of the week and one day was not long
enough to come home. All I know is that on that particular
Mexican holiday, Mexicans love to fire guns into the air. That
evening as I sat on the balcony of my hotel, the gun fire that
erupted in celebration was quite unbelievable. It was so intense
I backed off the balcony and watched the festivities from a couple
three feet in the room. We're talking war-like firing of weapons,
it was that intense.

As I listened that night to the gun fire, I was somewhat shocked
at the amount of fully automatic gun fire. It wasn't sporadic.
It was continuous throughout the city. For a country that bans
guns I thought, how in the world did they get their hands on all
these full-auto weapons? Clearly what sounded like M16 fire was
prolific along with 7.62 x 39 AK autos with a smattering of
smaller caliber full-autos, most likely 9mm. Gun fire can be
heard in most American cities on New Years, but I've never heard
full-auto weapons being fired, at least not in the San Diego area.

The next day I went into work and sat down with a trusted senior
Mexican manager. I looked at him and said, "I thought guns were
illegal in Mexico." He chuckled and said, "So you stayed in town
last night?" As the conversation progressed, it became clear that
guns are as common in Mexico as tamales at Christmas. Everyone he
knows, including himself, own at least one gun. And, it matters
not whether it's a semi-auto or fully automatic, they're all
illegal, so why stop with semi-autos? Though clearly illegal in
the states in most instances, a lot of Mexicans have more
firepower in terms of military weapons than we can only dream of
owning here.

As time went on, parties in the city at middle class Mexican homes
become a way of life. Most Mexican managers in the plant knew I
was a gun wonk. As it turns out, they couldn't wait to invite me
over to their place on a Friday night to show me their collection.
Semi-autos, some very high-end Sigs and other European handguns
were not uncommon along with piles of old revolvers. I thought I
had seen everything in the states, but in Mexico it's not uncommon
for people to own full-auto military rifles. Everything from an
M16, UZI machine pistols and the most popular, select-fire AK47
military rifles. These are not the so-called "assault weapons"
you can buy at the local gun shop in the U.S., but full
select-fire military-issue rifles. Now, I know you want to know
and are dying to ask; Did I see any U.S. military-issue weapons
stolen from the U.S. military? Not a single one was marked with
U.S. military markings. Everything was marked with additional
foreign markings on the receiver, including M16 rifles, or they
had nothing at all. I saw firearms manufactured in Europe, China,
Russia and South America along with U.S. manufactured weapons. I
saw rifles that looked familiar with no place of manufacture, no
serial number or manufacturer's logo. The information was not
removed, it was never there to begin with. I can only assume they
came from illegal arms manufacturers in India or Pakistan that
produce copies of weapons. It was obvious that none of these
firearms came from a U.S. gun shop in Tucson or San Diego. You
couldn't buy them from a gun shop in the states if you tried.

It seems Mexicans have a rich heritage of firearms ownership prior
to the ban in 1968. Despite the laws against owning them, they
ignore it. Most Mexicans will say they need it for personal
protection of themselves and their family. The other reason is
they don't trust the government or local law enforcement. If they
have to use it in their home for self-defense, whether they end up
in jail is all dependent on how much money they can come up with,
or who they know in the government. It also depends on who they
shoot. But, given the alternative with high crime rates, most
middle class Mexicans willingly and without reservations take the
risk. Despite being able to own .22 caliber pistols or rifles,
Mexican law requires them to be stored at an approved firing
range. Where's the firing range I asked many times? No one knew
of one. Where's the gun stores in town to buy legal guns? Gun
stores? No one ever recalled seeing one anywhere in Mexico, let
alone their city. I'm sure somewhere, maybe in Mexico City you
might be able to buy a gun, but not in this city of almost 1.5
million residents. And the gun traffickers know it.

Where do ordinary Mexicans get their weapons? Most buy them from
a 'friend' or a friend of a friend or cousin or uncle. Where the
friend gets them is not talked about. But, it seems that drug
cartels in Mexico are heavily involved in gun trafficking of
military weapons and related hardware. And, who are these
ordinary Mexicans? They range from people who work in factories
as managers and senior managers, government workers, doctors,
dentists and anyone with the financial means to buy a firearm. I
even ran into a couple of government bureaucrats, one a lawyer for
the federal government who owns firearms.. He confirmed that
people he knew in the government, some very highly ranked
bureaucrats and politicians all own illegal firearms. The other
works for the Mexican equivalent of the IRS. It's a way of life
in Mexico. It seemed to me that you aren't in the 'in-crowd' in
Mexico unless you own at least one firearm. I was amazed at the
whole thing after believing for years that gun ownership in Mexico
was non-existent. That is hardly the case.

All this flies in the face of news articles published by the U.S.
media in the last week or two.. Mexico's gun problems are a
direct result of gun runners buying "assault weapons" in the U.S.
and taking them into Mexico to arm drug cartels, says the U.S.
media and government. That is a bunch of government and media
nonsense. The cartels aren't arming themselves from U.S. gun
stores with semi-auto AR15 and AK47 rifles. They've moved on up.
Not to completely dismiss arms moving into Mexico from the U.S.,
but it is not as it seems when the U.S. media tells the story.
The firearms moving across the border are semi-auto rifles and
handguns sold to middle class or wealthy Mexicans seeking personal
protection from criminals that have no connections in Mexico with
gun runners. For the most part the wealthy in Mexico are targets
of criminal elements, so they have no intention of connecting up
with them to buy a self-defense firearm. You're better off buying
a weapon from someone within the Mexican government than buying it
from the criminal element, namely a drug cartel.

Cartels buy their arms from countries around the world, most any
place where military weapons can be purchased on the black market,
or from countries wishing to destabilize North America. They arm
themselves from a worldwide black market of full auto military
weapons including grenades, land mines and RPGs. They also
"procure" their weapons from the less than savory from within the
Mexican military.

The drug cartels can easily afford to fly their weaponry into
Mexico using their own fleet of aircraft on to remote airfields,
or land them on remote Mexican shores from their fleet of vessels.
They do it with drugs all of the time. Drug cartels buying
semi-auto AR15 or AK rifles from U.S. gun dealers is viewed as a
joke by Mexico's drug cartel, most Mexicans, and unfortunately by
the Mexican government. The only people fooled by all the
political rhetoric are Americans listening to the likes of
Attorney General Eric Holder and other anti-gun politicians.

Mexico has a gun problem, just like they have a drug problem and
both the U.S. and Mexican governments are trying to place the
blame on U.S. gun owners. U.S. gun owners aren't the problem.
Mexico is the problem. The government is corrupt from the lowest
level law enforcement officer shaking down American tourists for
traffic violations, to officials and politicians highly placed
within the Mexican government, including elements within the
military. Everyone knows it. Everyone in Mexico knows it. Every
law enforcement official in the U.S. knows it, and everyone in our
government knows it. And anyone who has worked for any length of
time within border cities and lived in the local community knows
it. This is taking a Mexican problem, blaming the U.S. by turning
it into a crisis in order further an agenda, and Eric Holder and
President Obama knows it and they are taking advantage of it.

The next time you see a news report of illegal full-auto weapons
and grenades being found here in the U.S., you know where they
came from. It wasn't from a gun store in Tucson or Phoenix. The
administration is right that gun trafficking along the U.S./Mexico
border is a problem. Not only do we have drugs and illegal aliens
coming in our southern border, but we also have military arms and
explosives coming into our country illegally as well. That's the
issue and our government is being disingenuous in its argument.

This AP news report published today is typical of what is going
on. It is disgustingly biased and flat wrong: AP report for
Detroit Free Press

Don't believe me and what I say? See what the Latin American
Herald is saying about a recent arrest of cartel members and their
weaponry in Mexico. No, the items listed weren't purchased at a
gun store in Phoenix or Tucson. Grenades and RPGs are illegal in
the U.S.: LAH Story


GunNewsDaily authorizes the distribution of this commentary
providing that GunNewsDaily.com is recognized as the originating
source.

Great read, thanks for putting this up.

It's amazing how many Sonorans show up in Az. Arms emporiums seeking "Cargadores Rotario, de Capacidad 100 ( O Mas ) Bailes, para Eme Diez y Seis"

Translation,......Rotary 100 round mags for M-16

I know because I've done a bit of translating at our local joint.

Again, great post, and thanks.

GTC

Sounds about right...

What really cracked me up on the news vid on this "illegal arms" confiscation/drug cartels, was the Nylon 77. The white diamond is unmistakable....

the story of Mexican's love of guns is fairly consistent with what I've heard from my friends down there.

ATF guy came and spoke to the Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association board meeting a few months back, it was very interesting.

a LOT of the "weapons that originate in the US" are DOD foreign military sales to the Mex army that gets rerouted out the back door of the barracks. He showed a bunch of photo's of grenades he had to go identify. Half were US half Korean.

They are fighting a huge "straw man" sale problem that should probably more properly be termed a "straw girl" sale. Basically pretty hispanic young woman walks in with cash and a list of guns she knows nothing about, gang banger boyfriend with prison tattoos up and down each arm is waiting in the parking lot.... in the car with California plates.

I'd bet, especially after reading the above, that the US guns that go south are the amateurs'

Poole