Where the 17% come from
If you have a C&R, I am sure that you are familiar with "re-imports" were weapons that were provided as military aid are imported to the US after becoming surplus, besides, anybody remember the Iran-contra thingy, thought that involved some massive shipments of guns, not to mentions the number of M-16 provided to anti-narco units.....
for what it's worth, I'd rather have one of the Mexican armies new rifles than a semi-auto AK, those are some damn spiffy guns.