And I'm glad someome agrees with me that unlawful purchases are frequently permitted in sting operations of all sorts and have been for generations.-JohnBT
John, I am not meaning to single you out, you just put the issue to a short point.
Yes, law enforcement has long used controlled illegal activity to entrap criminals. I think the real problem with this particular operation is a bit different than a cop selling bags of dope to arrest an addict.
In this situation BATFE specifically told dealers to go ahead with a sale that would violate the law. Yes, this was done with the guise of following the illegal purchase and making an arrest. I think the damning issue is that they chose to do this with people who they knew in all likelihood would cross the Mexican border. At that point, the BATFE no longer has any jurisdiction to operate inside another country and can no longer control the situation.
Now, the dealers did the right thing, they recognized that something was amiss and questioned the sale and contacted the BATFE. At that point, the BATFE could have likely arrested many of the perspective buyers for attempting to acquire a firearm illegally.
Now, as for comparing a dope sale to a firearm sale, the likely outcome is far different. In the dope sale if they loose a small amount of dope the likelihood of someone getting killed is low. That is not the case with the firearm transaction. If someone were to make off with the dope and smoke it I doubt anyone would be dead in a matter of seconds. That simply is not the case with a firearm, the results are far more likely to be swift and drastic if the criminal chooses to use them. Let's face it, if you loose site of the dope and then come around a corner and see it, you aren't likely to get killed, but loose site of a gun and come around the corner and you may be staring down the barrel at your possible death.
I think the real thorn of all this is that while this was going on, political elements wanted to use the issue of US guns showing up in Mexico to create more restrictions on our freedoms. This just gives the impression, whether true or not, that the government created the problem to allow itself more power.