http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... co-cartels

The same routes that Mexico's drug cartels use to smuggle drugs into the United States are also used to run American guns into Mexico, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The report, commissioned by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and published yesterday, reveals that 70 percent—more than 73,000—of the guns recovered from crime scenes in Mexico and traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from 2009 to 2014 originated in the United States. These weapons have fueled the ongoing war among the drug cartels and between the cartels and Mexican security forces, contributing to the more than 100,000 killings in the country since 2007.

The cartels' weapons of choice are high-caliber rifles*, as well as AR-15 and AK-47-type semiautomatic rifles, which can be easily converted into fully automatic machine guns. The cartel's gunrunners often buy firearms legally in the United States, either at gun shops, gun shows, or in private sales. The firearms are then illegally shipped across the border.

"To avoid detection, gunrunners will often use unfinished, or "80-percent" receivers—receivers that are mostly complete but require some further machining to be functional."

How often, Mother Jones? Nothing, just a link to your gunbuilding party article? OK, let's ask the ATF:

"According to ATF officials, there are no reliable data on the extent of firearm parts trafficking from the United States into Mexico."

Huh.

"[L]aw enforcement officials in Mexico described to us two high-profile cases in 2014 involving illicit firearm parts assembly of this type. One was in Guadalajara, where Jalisco state police seized hundreds of unfinished receivers and pieces of sophisticated equipment being used to complete high caliber rifles. The second was in Tijuana, where Baja California state police seized 25 rifles in the process of assembly with firearm parts from the United States"

So, far less than the number of guns we let slide during Fast & Furious? OK.

According to the GAO report that is linked in the MoJo article, there were two seizures that had mentions, one in Guadalajara which had actual unfinished lowers, and one in Tijuana where it was less clear if it were unfinished lowers or regular lowers + parts kits. The report notes that the ATF is concerned about a possible uptick in use.

Color me skeptical, but since these are only two (or maybe one) instances out of probably dozens if not hundreds of raids and seizures, wouldn't this be making a wee bit too much fuss? If the evidence pointed otherwise and every other raid included some 80% lowers, then you'd have my attention.

Also, parts of it doesn't pass the smell test. If cartels are going to smuggle guns, why would they waste so much time to smuggle incomplete lowers that they have to spend extra time to mill the receivers? I don't think the premiere thought on their minds are going to be "man we have to make sure there's no serial numbers on these guns!". If they are going to spend all that time to mill out 80% lowers, might as well save the chance of getting caught by buying aluminum blocks and starting from 0% lowers. It's not like the schematics aren't already on the web, or CNC mills don't exist in Mexico. But then again, I've no experience in what cartels are thinking, so maybe they simply like not having a serial number on their guns. Who knows?

What the hell is a high caliber rifle. .22?

Wait, is anyone else experiencing deja vu? Aren't these the same statistics that were being blasted out just prior to Fast and Furious coming to light? Didn't it turn out that the "70% of guns came from America" statistic is highly massaged? As in, it's actually 70% of the guns that Mexico sends to the ATF to be traced, not 70% of the total number of recovered guns? And the reason that the percentage is so high is because Mexico only sends guns it suspects came from the US?

Hazborgufen wrote:Wait, is anyone else experiencing deja vu? Aren't these the same statistics that were being blasted out just prior to Fast and Furious coming to light? Didn't it turn out that the "70% of guns came from America" statistic is highly massaged? As in, it's actually 70% of the guns that Mexico sends to the ATF to be traced, not 70% of the total number of recovered guns? And the reason that the percentage is so high is because Mexico only sends guns it suspects came from the US?

Hush you. Facts be damned.

I'm a little disappointed . Based on the title I thought this thread was Micheal Jordan related. [emoji851][emoji12]


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