L.A. Times Proposes Reporting Firearm Sales to Government

Los Angeles Times
January 6, 2011

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Editor’s note: Mexico’s bankster supported drug cartels do not get most of their weapons from the United States. In fact, as the GAO admits, there is no accurate gauge on where guns seized in Mexico originate from. Only 17 percent of guns found at Mexican crime scenes have been traced to the U.S. “Mexico is a virtual arms bazaar, with fragmentation grenades from South Korea, AK-47s from China, and shoulder-fired rocket launchers from Spain, Israel and former Soviet bloc manufacturers,” reports Fox News. “More than 150,000 soldiers deserted in the last six years, according to Mexican Congressman Robert Badillo. Many took their weapons with them, including the standard issue M-16 assault rifle made in Belgium.” But this does not matter. The corporate media is determined to make it seem Mexico’s violence problem originates in the U.S.

Mexico has some of the strictest gun laws in the hemisphere. Citizens are permitted to buy low-caliber firearms for self-protection or hunting, but only after a background check and approval by the defense ministry; they must also purchase the guns directly from the ministry. The goal of this parsimonious approach to allotting firearms is a society free from gun violence. Unfortunately for Mexico, however, its weapons management strategy is sabotaged by an accident of location — its residence next door to the gun capital of the world.

The United States is awash in guns. Americans own an estimated 283 million guns, and 4.5 million new ones, including 2 million handguns, are sold each year, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Nor are these weapons confined to U.S. borders and households. Officials say that they are pouring south into Mexico, into the hands of violent drug cartels.

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As part of its effort to halt the flow, the ATF has asked the White House for emergency authority to require gun dealers near the border in four states — California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas — to report multiple purchases of high-powered rifles. Specifically, the agency wants 8,500 retailers to report any sales of two or more long rifles of .22 caliber or higher to the same customer within a five-day period.

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This article was posted: Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 12:29 pm

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