South of the War Zone

[marcus_sez_vote]

Recently there was a crackdown on the Sinaloa cartel across the United States that resulted in 755 arrests. This pressure on the major drug cartels continues to mean they fight each other, and the Mexican authorities, ruthlessly. What's depressing is how Americans are not only the biggest market for the drugs, but we also blatantly arm the

Comments

[marcus_sez_vote]

No they're not going into the gun stores themselves. As the article says, they hire "clean" buyers to buy the guns for them. It's not like there's one supplier but a steady trickle of weapons over the border. I agree that a dedicated gun smuggler might be able to obtain weapons from elsewhere, but that adds steps to the process and cost, which would hamper the cartels further. Is an American "right" of gun ownership worth having Mexican police, military, and civilians killed nigh constantly? Frankly the American drug market is the reason for this violence spike (as well as the lack of viable employment for those people in Mexico and the corruption of Mexican governmental organizations). With some small changes we can at least seem like we consider their sacrifices in the drug war to be worthwhile.

I also think legitimate gun owners can get along fine selling rifles, shotguns, pistols, ammunition, accessories, etc. Their business model should not be all about assault weapons, especially sold in dribs and drabs to potentially sketchy scumbags.

Be well.

[vyseryn]

Mexico has its own law enforcement, military, and government. They should dedicate their own resources to combat their own corruption and organized crime. Our constitutional rights should not be impinged upon because they cannot take care of business on their own.

An Assault weapon ban in the US will do NOTHING to stem the flow of weapons into Mexico. It would be cheaper for the drug lords to buy AK-47's in bulk from Venezuela. I bet Hugo Chavez could really use that money right now...