Tyrannosaurus
Member
It's really frustrating, but I'm seeing a growing trend here (and I'm sure many if not most of you have picked up on it already).
Instead of violating the 2nd by ordinary means, the powers that be are pointing to Mexico as a reason to cut down on gun sales in the US.
This was a news broadcast, not just an article. Here's the text version.
http://www.click2houston.com/news/18735464/detail.html
HOUSTON -- Local 2 investigates the illegal gun trade between Houston and Mexico. Our city has become the top spot in the country for Mexican drug cartels and gangs to buy handguns, rifles and ammunition. Federal investigators report the cartels and gangs are spending millions of dollars a year to arm themselves with guns bought in the United States.
Local 2 Investigates spoke with one man who bought dozens of guns at stores around the Houston area. Local 2 is not revealing the man's identity.
"He asked me for a favor and I did it, you know. That was that," he said, referring to an acquaintance who first asked him to purchase the weapons.
This man said he had no idea where the weapons were headed and that he bought the guns to earn extra money.
"How much did you get paid," asked Local 2 investigative reporter Robert Arnold. "He told me that I'll give you $50 (per gun)," the man answered.
This man said he now fears for his life because he learned the guns he bought were smuggled into Mexico.
"I can't go down this way, you know, I can't," he said. " I'm always out there looking over my back, you know. I don't know with these people. I'm pretty sure they're capable of doing some crazy stuff, you know."
Court records reviewed by Local 2 Investigates reveal this man is just one of many buying guns all around Houston.
"The Houston area is the No. 1 area for guns going to Mexico," said J. Dewey Webb, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Houston Division.
Webb said Mexican drug cartels and gangs are heavily recruiting "straw buyers" to purchase weapons in the United States -- people with clean criminal records, a desire for quick cash and who can legally purchase a firearm.
Federal court documents show the A.T.F. has been tracking a ring of more than 20 people buying guns throughout the Houston area. Court records read the group bought $352,134 worth of guns in a 15- month period. All the guns were bought at stores around the Houston area. One of the main purchasers listed in court records is John Philip Hernandez, who has been arrested and charged with federal firearms violations.
Webb said the reason Houston is such a hot spot for these purchases is not just because it is close to the border, it is also because the guns are cheaper here.
"The farther you get away from the border, the cheaper the guns get," said Webb. "They can do the math. They can drive to Houston and buy a lot more of these things for the same money."
Web said the guns bought here have direct consequences in Mexico. Federal investigators directly linked guns bought in Houston to the murder and kidnapping of a Mexican businessman, a shoot-out between cartel members and Mexican troops and the murder of four police officers and three civilians in Acapulco.
Local 2 Investigates also traveled to Nueva Laredo where most people wouldn't talk about the problem of cartels and gangs arming themselves with American bought guns.
"We have to be careful because we don't feel safe and there's no guarantee the authorities can protect us," said one woman, who asked that Local 2 not reveal her identity.
"They smuggle the guns across in the suitcases of Mexican citizens who take the buses back and forth from Nueva Laredo to Houston," she said.
That comment highlights part of the problem. Checks going into Mexico are spotty and random.
Just a few days before Local 2 Investigates traveled to Nueva Laredo, Mexican federal troops got into a shoot-out with three men driving stolen trucks from Texas. When it was over, one person was dead and the troops found a huge cache of weapons.
Hidden inside those stolen trucks were guns, ammunition, handcuffs, radios, and bulletproof vests. Federal troops told Local 2 this was the second seizure of weapons in two weeks in Nueva Laredo.
"We can't supply Mexico with these guns," said Webb County Sheriff, Martin Cuellar.
Webb County sits just across the border from Nueva Laredo and Cuellar said he has seen the problem of gangs and cartels recruiting buyers for their weapons.
"They're recruiting in Dallas. They're recruiting in Houston. They're recruiting everywhere. I mean they're recruiting here, too," said Cuellar. "They recruit, you now, from our gangs, American gangs."
One of the preferred weapons in Mexico is a handgun that fires armor-piercing rounds.
"It's called a cop killer in Mexico," said Webb.
Webb said handguns are easier to conceal. The guns can be dismantled and walked across the border in pieces. Webb said the gangs and cartels are also using high-powered and automatic rifles. A.T.F. agents are also finding grenades in Mexico that were bought on the black market from places like Israel, South Korea and South Africa.
"They're starting to equip their armies like real armies," said Webb.
"Around 90 percent of the weapons that are being confiscated from organized crime in Mexico come from the United States," said Carlos Gonzalez Magallon, Mexico's Consul General in Houston.
Gonzalez Magallon said since Mexican President Felipe Calderon increased efforts to dismantle cartels, there has been an increased wave of violence and an increased demand for weapons.
"It's not a problem of Mexico alone," said Gonzalez Magallon. "This is a problem we share."
Our government agrees with that statement. There has been an unparalleled level of cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico. Both countries are now sharing information regularly, more A.T.F. agents are dedicated to tracking the flow of guns and gun dealers being educated on how to spot straw buyers.
"In most cases, they're one of the best sources for informing us to what's going on," said Webb.
The violence is also no longer staying south of the border.
"Some of these (grenades) are coming into the United States and being thrown into bars full of people," said Webb. "The violence is creeping into the United States more and more."
The last numbers available from the A.T.F. show in 2007 more than 6,500 weapons bought in the U.S. were found in Mexico. The A.T.F. reports that number only includes weapons our government was able to trace.
*************
By the way, the gun they were referring to as a 'cop killer' is the FN Hernstal Five Seven (they showed it on the broadcast).
Instead of violating the 2nd by ordinary means, the powers that be are pointing to Mexico as a reason to cut down on gun sales in the US.
This was a news broadcast, not just an article. Here's the text version.
http://www.click2houston.com/news/18735464/detail.html
HOUSTON -- Local 2 investigates the illegal gun trade between Houston and Mexico. Our city has become the top spot in the country for Mexican drug cartels and gangs to buy handguns, rifles and ammunition. Federal investigators report the cartels and gangs are spending millions of dollars a year to arm themselves with guns bought in the United States.
Local 2 Investigates spoke with one man who bought dozens of guns at stores around the Houston area. Local 2 is not revealing the man's identity.
"He asked me for a favor and I did it, you know. That was that," he said, referring to an acquaintance who first asked him to purchase the weapons.
This man said he had no idea where the weapons were headed and that he bought the guns to earn extra money.
"How much did you get paid," asked Local 2 investigative reporter Robert Arnold. "He told me that I'll give you $50 (per gun)," the man answered.
This man said he now fears for his life because he learned the guns he bought were smuggled into Mexico.
"I can't go down this way, you know, I can't," he said. " I'm always out there looking over my back, you know. I don't know with these people. I'm pretty sure they're capable of doing some crazy stuff, you know."
Court records reviewed by Local 2 Investigates reveal this man is just one of many buying guns all around Houston.
"The Houston area is the No. 1 area for guns going to Mexico," said J. Dewey Webb, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Houston Division.
Webb said Mexican drug cartels and gangs are heavily recruiting "straw buyers" to purchase weapons in the United States -- people with clean criminal records, a desire for quick cash and who can legally purchase a firearm.
Federal court documents show the A.T.F. has been tracking a ring of more than 20 people buying guns throughout the Houston area. Court records read the group bought $352,134 worth of guns in a 15- month period. All the guns were bought at stores around the Houston area. One of the main purchasers listed in court records is John Philip Hernandez, who has been arrested and charged with federal firearms violations.
Webb said the reason Houston is such a hot spot for these purchases is not just because it is close to the border, it is also because the guns are cheaper here.
"The farther you get away from the border, the cheaper the guns get," said Webb. "They can do the math. They can drive to Houston and buy a lot more of these things for the same money."
Web said the guns bought here have direct consequences in Mexico. Federal investigators directly linked guns bought in Houston to the murder and kidnapping of a Mexican businessman, a shoot-out between cartel members and Mexican troops and the murder of four police officers and three civilians in Acapulco.
Local 2 Investigates also traveled to Nueva Laredo where most people wouldn't talk about the problem of cartels and gangs arming themselves with American bought guns.
"We have to be careful because we don't feel safe and there's no guarantee the authorities can protect us," said one woman, who asked that Local 2 not reveal her identity.
"They smuggle the guns across in the suitcases of Mexican citizens who take the buses back and forth from Nueva Laredo to Houston," she said.
That comment highlights part of the problem. Checks going into Mexico are spotty and random.
Just a few days before Local 2 Investigates traveled to Nueva Laredo, Mexican federal troops got into a shoot-out with three men driving stolen trucks from Texas. When it was over, one person was dead and the troops found a huge cache of weapons.
Hidden inside those stolen trucks were guns, ammunition, handcuffs, radios, and bulletproof vests. Federal troops told Local 2 this was the second seizure of weapons in two weeks in Nueva Laredo.
"We can't supply Mexico with these guns," said Webb County Sheriff, Martin Cuellar.
Webb County sits just across the border from Nueva Laredo and Cuellar said he has seen the problem of gangs and cartels recruiting buyers for their weapons.
"They're recruiting in Dallas. They're recruiting in Houston. They're recruiting everywhere. I mean they're recruiting here, too," said Cuellar. "They recruit, you now, from our gangs, American gangs."
One of the preferred weapons in Mexico is a handgun that fires armor-piercing rounds.
"It's called a cop killer in Mexico," said Webb.
Webb said handguns are easier to conceal. The guns can be dismantled and walked across the border in pieces. Webb said the gangs and cartels are also using high-powered and automatic rifles. A.T.F. agents are also finding grenades in Mexico that were bought on the black market from places like Israel, South Korea and South Africa.
"They're starting to equip their armies like real armies," said Webb.
"Around 90 percent of the weapons that are being confiscated from organized crime in Mexico come from the United States," said Carlos Gonzalez Magallon, Mexico's Consul General in Houston.
Gonzalez Magallon said since Mexican President Felipe Calderon increased efforts to dismantle cartels, there has been an increased wave of violence and an increased demand for weapons.
"It's not a problem of Mexico alone," said Gonzalez Magallon. "This is a problem we share."
Our government agrees with that statement. There has been an unparalleled level of cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico. Both countries are now sharing information regularly, more A.T.F. agents are dedicated to tracking the flow of guns and gun dealers being educated on how to spot straw buyers.
"In most cases, they're one of the best sources for informing us to what's going on," said Webb.
The violence is also no longer staying south of the border.
"Some of these (grenades) are coming into the United States and being thrown into bars full of people," said Webb. "The violence is creeping into the United States more and more."
The last numbers available from the A.T.F. show in 2007 more than 6,500 weapons bought in the U.S. were found in Mexico. The A.T.F. reports that number only includes weapons our government was able to trace.
*************
By the way, the gun they were referring to as a 'cop killer' is the FN Hernstal Five Seven (they showed it on the broadcast).
