Def Mech

Last night, 60 Minutes ran a rant against U.S. gun smuggling into Mexico.  The problem is that some of the guns shown on the program were not firearms that are legally, commercially available in the United States.  It is these legally available guns that Eric Holder and the Obama Administration want to ban.

Can you say, “Bait and switch, Amigo?”  Common, legal semi-automatic firearms are apparently being misclassified as fully automatic military weapons.  In a conversation with Steven Schreiner, President of the Firearms Coalition of Colorado, I learned that the guns shown in the 60 Minute segment included an M-60 machine gun, which is legal in the U.S. only if you have a Class III Firearms License and pay a $200 transfer tax.  These machine guns are extremely rare and expensive in the U.S., and therefore unlikely to be smuggled across the border.

Also shown were U.S. M-16 rifles with grenade launchers.  While it would be theoretically possible to re-machine these military firearms, it would be much easier and more economical for Mexican gangs to obtain them from corrupt government sources and from gun runners  in Mexico or neighboring states.  The M-16 select-fire rifle that can be used in an automatic mode is in military and terrorist use in many countries in Central and South America.  The U.S. civilian version of the M-16 is the AR 15.  It does not fire full auto and is not available with a grenade launcher that accepts anti-personnel ammunition.  The 60 Minute piece showed obsolete M-1 type hand grenades.  Live grenades are not commercially available in the U.S. legal market. 

AK 47 “assault rifles” have been displayed in previous televion exposes of guns used in Mexico, according Schreiner.  Again, possession of any full auto firearm is heavily regulated and taxed by the U.S. government.  Any grenades or actual select fire weapons likely came from Mexican or foreign sources.  The AK 47 is probably the most common modern rifle in the world, since the old Soviet Union exported them wholesale in support of “people’s” revolutions.  Soviet satellite states also produced large quantities of these guns.

Venezuelan Strong Man Hugo Chavez has imported 100,000 AK-47’s and is planning factories that produce AK-47’s and ammunition.  There is no shortage of old Soviet-bloc and even new Russian arms, if you have the money to pay for them.  The drug cartels have the money.  (gunpolicy.org is not a Second Amendment-friendly site.)

Belt-fed Russian PK or PKM machine guns have appeared on previous TV programs about Mexican gang weapons.  They are also regulated, rare, and quite expensive in the U.S.  Former Soviet allies and socialist governments in South and Central America would have extensive access to these military weapons.

Schreiner said news reports indicate that Russian hand grenades are showing up in Mexico, along with Soviet-style rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launchers.  These long, slender, shoulder-fired weapons are used by armies and terrorists around the globe.  RPG launchers and ammunition are not coming from U.S. markets.

Let us remember that Mexico has absolute, draconian gun control laws that deprive virtually everyone in the country except the ruling class of the legal ability for self-defense.  I guess the drug cartels and violent street gangs didn’t get the memo banning guns.  See my posts on Mexico under the Category: “Foreign Gun Laws.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has issued a warning to federally licensed dealers against selling guns to persons without proper documentation.  If you want to privately sell a firearm, please make sure you know to the best of your ability that the buyer is legally eligible to buy the gun.  I would recommend checking the driver’s license and asking some questions.  You might get two forms of ID.  (This is not legal advice.  Just trying to help keep a few  guns out of the hands of gangsters and terrorists.)

It’s possible that some American firearms are being smuggled south across the border.  Given the availability of military weapons from other sources, I don’t believe that the U.S. is a significant source of Mexican violence.

 Don’t fall for the “bait and switch” tactic on the part of the Obama Administration.  Between South and Central American sources, the Mexican Police, and the Mexican Military, there are plenty of guns for the gangs.  Any guns coming from the U.S. would most likely be commercially available firearms, not the military weapons shown on 60 Minutes.  Again, Mexico has gun “control,” so there must be some “mistake” about the killings, kidnappings and murders south of the border.

Trying to fight the violence generated by MS 13 and other international gangs in this country and Mexico through American gun bans is like trying to fight a fire with a can of gasoline.  It’s exciting, but it doesn’t work very well.

Def Mech

“Otherwise well-adjusted women blast away at an orange stick of dynamite…” How does he know they are well-adjusted? This shooting thing could mask all sorts of mental problems and social deviation.

Our intrepid anthropologist comments that almost anyone who can qualify to own a gun, pay the $200 tax, and fill out the paperwork can make money by charging to let others shoot his or her firearm. What Mr. Booth doesn’t mention is that government restrictions limit the number of machine guns available to the public, and that they are consequently VERY expensive weapons.

Mr. Booth appears amazed that someone would actually spend money for a unique shooting experience. You can almost hear him whispering into his tiny tape recorder, “Burritos. These people eat burritos!”

Mr. Booth also seems astounded that the weapons at the shoot are actually legal, and that many of the patrons of the charitable event are current or retired law enforcement personnel. If he had asked around, he would have found many military veterans, as well.

Hope the kids mentioned in the article don’t get thrown out of school for violating “zero tolerance” policies. I pray that they will have the good sense not to mention their experience to their classmates. Whoops! Not politically correct!

Reading the article gives one the impression that Mr. Booth thinks that money spent on ammunition could be better used by the government for prison weight rooms and midnight basketball programs. If liberals could just figure out a way to get that cash, they could use it to make a much better society. Maybe more fees, higher taxes, eh?

The shoot’s sponsors might have gotten a less patronizing story, if they had labeled the event as street theater. Yeah! That’s it. It’s a symbolic protest against the military-industrial complex. The target junk car bodies represent global warming, or climate change, or whatever the cause du jour is at the salons. Should get rave reviews with that kind of promotion.

On the plus side, nobody got shot, no babies were sacrificed, and no virgins appear to have been blown up as offerings to the angry gods that drive these strange (bitter?) people to shoot guns. There was the issue of filthy lucre being exchanged for the experience of shooting historical weapons, many of which were instrumental in maintaining the freedom of the press enjoyed by Mr. Booth. Hey! No harm, no foul. A good time was had by all, even those “otherwise well-adjusted women.”

Def Mech