Monday, May 24, 2010 8:20 AM
Calderon Reignites Gun Debate
Gang violence has killed approximately 23,000 people in Mexico since 2006, in a country where gun sales are highly restricted. Mexican President Felipe Calderon stressed this in his joint address to Congress Thursday when he urged the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban.
"We have seized 75,000 guns and assault weapons in Mexico over the last three years," Calderon said. "More than 80 percent of those we have been able to trace came from the United States."
Some Republicans took offense at being lectured on gun control by a foreign leader.
"The Second Amendment is not a subject open for diplomatic negotiation, with Mexico or any other nation," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in a press release.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said Calderon was treading on a sensitive issue but that he personally was not offended. "People like to lecture the United States, and we're pretty patient with that," he said.
"The guns are probably lawfully obtained, but to the extent that they are unlawfully obtained we need to crack down on it," Sessions said, praising the increase in gun trafficking interdiction during the Obama and Bush administrations as a pattern to continue rather than pursuing legal changes.
Eliot Engel, D-NY., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, supported Calderon's call to reinstate the assault weapons ban, but said he did not expect to see legal changes. He urged Obama on Tuesday to step up enforcement of existing laws.
Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Center, said that pressure from Calderon would not necessarily lead to new laws, but that it might have some effect on the Obama administration, which has declared opposition to the assault weapons ban.
"I think it's more likely in the short term we're going to see administrative enforcement," Rand said. "They can tighten up the import rules, they can tighten up oversight of gun dealers, and they can tighten up oversight of manufacturers. I think over time the Mexican call for an assault weapons ban could lead to some kind of legislation against assault weapons or gun show loopholes, but not in the short term."
John Velleco, spokesman for Gun Owners of America, said Calderon had no right to lecture the United States and argued that his statistics were misleading.
"The corruption in his own government is legendary, and he ought to clean his own house before he can come to our country and point out what we should do," Velleco said. "The cartels are using weapons that you just can't buy at a gun store in El Paso. They have billions of dollars and could be using that to funnel guns from rogue nations through the United States and into Mexico."
Rand agreed there is military surplus that could find its way through the United States to Mexico from other countries, but she insisted that "there is no other country that could supply this much complex, military grade weaponry on the streets."
"Some of these weapons are imported to the U.S., but they're all sold very freely," Rand said. "[The gun lobby] can't produce any piece of hard evidence that most firearms are coming from anywhere besides the U.S."
Criticism on gun policy often riles Second Amendment fears. Some U.S. citizens were so fearful of losing gun rights that purchases spiked nationwide prior to the Clinton administration's passage of the assault weapons ban and following the election of President Obama, for fear that he would renew it, Velleco noted.
But Rand did not expect Calderon's call to reinstate the assault ban would lead to a new shopping spree for assault rifles.
"The manufacturers know that the boom in assault weapons is over and the ones who went out to buy them have bought what they can afford," Rand said.
Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, a former sheriff of Corpus Christi, said he had "always been pro-gun" but that the statistics of gun-running to Mexico gave him pause about gun control policy.
"I'm not saying that I am for the prohibition of certain kinds of weapons, but I'm saying that we need to study it or give our police officers the weapons that they need, because they are sometimes overpowered by weapons," Ortiz said.
Spook
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
MOLON LABE!!
Obama only has a "short term" left on his illegal occupation of the Office of POTUS!
If he declares Martial Law it will act as a Declaration of War and the citizenry will have every moral right and DUTY to resist this gangster government.
Civilians in the U.S. CANNOT purchase automatic weapons legally without a $200.00 permit from the ATF. Any automatice weapons ending up in Drug Cartel hands are coming from corrupt military and police in Mexico.
We will not submit to Marshall Law and there is NO LEGAL AUTHORITY in the U.S. Constitution for the President or Congress to declare Martial Law. The Writ of Habeaus Corpus MAY be suspended ONLY in cases of INVASION OR REBELLION. That is NOT the same as Martial Law and no level of government in the U.S. has the legitimate authority to suspend ANY CIVIL OR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. Remember, they're "UNALIENABLE"! Look it up if you're confused.
Nex ut Tyrannus!!
James E. McMullen, III
Monday, May 24, 2010
There's an old Texas sayin', "Come and take it" that graced a flag in that state about 180 years ago. That would be my answer to Mr. Calderon.
He needs to go back to his country and straighten it out. For the life of me I cannot figure out where in the US you can get a hold of a boat load of AKs that the criminals and cartels seem to have access to.
A Reader
Monday, May 24, 2010
WHOSE BURDEN OF PROOF?
Rand is a slick demagogue.
To distract us from the fact that there is no hard evidence that most of these weapons did indeed come from the legal channels in the U.S., he deceitfully shift the burden of proof on us.
And, according to previous finding, vast majority of Mexican bandits' weapons in untraceable, except for thos that were obtained legally in the U.S. (a relatively small fraction). The 80 percent that this hypocrite Calderon is refering to is not 80 percent of all weapons but 80 percent of traceable weapons.
What a cheat, isn't he?
If you claim something, comrades Calderon and Rand, then prove it or shut up.
PortTabacco
Monday, May 24, 2010
And why was this Third World Jerk allowed to say one damn word in the House?
In the past not one foreign leader would be welcomed opening his big ignorant mouth here.
Get home you jackass.
ScottyDog
Monday, May 24, 2010
Rand is wrong, the so called "Gun Lobby" examined Government records and found the majority of the fully automatic weapons confiscated were from the Mexican Government via military weapons purchases.
The Assault Weapon Ban would not stop government to government purchases of military hardware which is already illegal in the USA.
You cannot go into a gun store and buy a fully automatic rifle unless you have a permit.
Rand also makes this idiotic statement;"there is no other country that could supply this much complex, military grade weaponry on the streets."
I guess she has never heard of the Russians or Red Chinese who supply the AK47 by the container load for less than 100 per copy.
Dora D. Explorer
Monday, May 24, 2010
I am not too sure about the gun debate, but this illegal immigration thing is getting out of hand. If we don't do something about it, we can sure kiss our country goodbye. I am not saying that I am against immigration but when illegals are committing crimes like shooting our citizens in cold blood we have to do something. I just came across an article about the execution style killing of the univeristy students, now I hear that they were MS-13 gangsters that killed the students cause they were gay, check the story out
http://bit.ly/a4QECX
VultureTX
Monday, May 24, 2010
in an entirely one sided giving voice to VPC's lies Rand says ""there is no other country that could supply this much complex, military grade weaponry on the streets."
Unless she is implying that US military is giving those guns, it's bogus, China, Russia, Israel , and others could supply those guns in the numbers mentioned by Mexico. Over 2000 grenades were also seized by Mexico, do you believe they bought them in the US?... at a Walmart gun counter? Since most of the seized guns had no serial numbers according to Mexico , then they are likely not of US origin (GCA '68 required serials).
Now the real joke is that those M-16 full auto assault rifles they keep finding from Drug Lord seizures ALL came from the Mexican Army. But Calderon won't mention that little fact. They don't like to acknowledge that their conscripted soliders sell their rifles to criminals for $100-200 a piece.