Posted on 03/02/2009 8:04:34 AM PST by Zakeet
This week, an Arizona gun shop goes on trial in state court in what law-enforcement officials are calling a landmark case against gun dealers who sell weapons that end up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels, fueling horrific violence south of the border that killed more than 6,000 people last year.
X-Caliber Guns LLC, is accused of knowingly selling hundreds of weapons, mostly AK-47s, to buyers who were posing as fronts for Mexican drug gangs. The gun store's owner, 47-year-old George Iknadosian, has maintained his innocence in court filings.
While the U.S. has long pressed Mexico to stop the flow of illegal drugs such as cocaine from crossing the border heading north, Mexico has complained that the U.S. doesn't stop the flow of guns heading south. Mexican and U.S. officials estimate that more than 90% of the weapons used by Mexican drug cartels come from the U.S.
Consider what happened last year in the Mexican border city of Nogales. The chief of the Sonora state anti-drug unit, Juan Manuel Pavón, was murdered by cartel hit men, just hours after attending a U.S. seminar on how to resist the tide of American firearms surging into Mexico. Several weapons linked to the crime traced back to X-Caliber Guns.
"The three highest priorities for me in terms of U.S. cooperation in the drugs war are these: guns, guns, guns," Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal. "These drug groups intimidate society and government because of their firepower. And their firepower comes from the U.S."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
According to the Feds, the owner of this gun store should go to jail because some of the weapons he sold wound up in the hands of Mexican drug dealers -- even though the national data base approved the sale and he will be sued out of existence if he is deemed to be "profiling" -- refusing to sell guns to young Latinos, for instance.
Maybe Mexico should close the border southbound?
If Mexico would stop helping them get here illegally they could not buy the guns!
IMPOSSIBLE! Guns are illegal in Mexico....I HAVE SEEN THE SIGNS! “Guns and Ammo are Illegal in Mexico!”
How about all the beheadings? I suppose Mexicans get their machete’s from the USA too?
Build the Fence!!!! Arm it. Then give the Mexican people the 2nd amendment so they can protect themselves.
Just to keep the record straight, the 5.7x28's that are listed as "cop killers" aren't available for sale to the general public. These 24,000 are not cop killer's.
WTF’s in the bucket the cop/soldier is carrying? Are they going to fight crime with drywall mud?
If this weren’t a “War on FFL Holders”, they’d be going after the guys who bought the guns that ended up in Mexico.
He’s probably even got some of those “Don’t Buy For The Other Guy” signs with pictures of jail-cell doors, to discourage “straw purchasers” around the store.
Since they don’t seem to be going after “those guys”, this reverts back to “War on FFL Holders”.
I read the “Story” and it is impossible to find what the man is actually accused of doing that was illegal.
There was a whole litany of shootouts in Mexico between narco trafficantes and Mexican LEO’s, but not a word about what the man did that was unsanctioned.
So basically the WSJ posted a anti Civil Rights propaganda piece and called it “news”.
Every gun that was picked in Mexico and that originated in the USA can be traced by serial number back to an American citizen’s driver’s license or SSN. THE BUYER WHO SOLD THE GUN TO THE NARCOTRAFFICANTES IS THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED IF ANYONE IS! If such a buyer is purchasing large numbers of arms for re-sale then he can be charged with firearms offenses.
Tyranny attacks us from all sides. Once the gun rights are gone, the other rights become “opinions” held by our leaders at their mercy.
I suspect the bulk of their firepower gets there on container ships through cartel controlled mexican ports. However that does little to advance gun control in this country.
Be Ever Vigilant!
That's true. It's interesting, though, that the new "must have" weapon of the Mexican drug gangs may be the P90. You know damned well that *those* aren't coming from the Estados Unidos.
Stupid government officials, they are the ones who give the authorization to the ffl dealers. Blame them! Our gun rights are going to be challenged by gun grabbers at all costs. What they fail to realize is there are likely more of us then them. If gun owners stand as one, they lose.
The 5.7x28 ammo for sale in the U.S. is "sporting" ammo. It is either FMJ or hollow point with a plastic ballistic tip favored for small varmint hunting. The armor piercing variant of the ammo is not available for sale to the public. To make that claim is a lie.
There was a gunshop in Westminister, California that was called Xcaliber guns. He closed up a few years back and I wonder if he moved to Arizona?
the new “must have” weapon of the Mexican drug gangs may be the P90
The variant for sale in U.S. gun shops is the PS90. It is a semi-auto, one pull/one shot semi-automatic. I've heard stories that the PS90 can be converted to full auto with a very trivial change. Frankly, I don't find it very attractive and it's too expensive to be of interest. The FiveSeven pistol is a nice firearm, but the cost of the ammo and difficulty reloading the bottle nose cartridges results in a firearm that is rarely fired.
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