About those guns coming from the US, umm, never mind

I discussed this on the show, after the Secretary of State made the claim that 90 percent of the guns being used by the drug cartel in Mexico come from the US. And yet they are recovering weapons that can’t be sold in the US. So how could this be?

Watch and listen to this Fox exclusive. It’s clear, at least to me and I hope Steve will add to this post, that the Democrats were hoping to use this to clamp down on gun ownership in the US. But that’s just me.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-kPbDsrfgI

Here’s a post by Glenn Reynolds … the first person I know to catch the discrepancy.

So all this talk about U.S. gun shops arming Mexican gangs with bazookas was just gun-control propaganda, then?

Call me paranoid, but I am glad Fox jumped on this early … or is it already too late? Or does it even matter with this crowd in DC? Comments welcome.

Update: (Steve) … Malkin points us over to the Fox News exclusive as well, so maybe these lies and myths have a chance of being squashed, but honestly, this is exactly how the anti-gun crowd operates. They deal with conjecture and feelings all the time; since Mexico is a poor country, they certainly are not responsible for their actions. Plus, it always needs to be about the big bad Americans and their negative influence on poor countries.

Kind of reminds me of the drive by media.

Here’s an excerpt from the Fox News exclusive, which is a must read since it provides detailed information about the number of weapons traced, where they come from, and where they do not come from.

There’s just one problem with the 90 percent “statistic” and it’s a big one:

It’s just not true.

In fact, it’s not even close. The fact is, only 17 percent of guns found at Mexican crime scenes have been traced to the U.S.

What’s true, an ATF spokeswoman told FOXNews.com, in a clarification of the statistic used by her own agency’s assistant director, “is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S.”

But a large percentage of the guns recovered in Mexico do not get sent back to the U.S. for tracing, because it is obvious from their markings that they do not come from the U.S.

“Not every weapon seized in Mexico has a serial number on it that would make it traceable, and the U.S. effort to trace weapons really only extends to weapons that have been in the U.S. market,” Matt Allen, special agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told FOX News.

Hot Air is now on topic, as is Gateway Pundit. Ed Morrissey does ask the question – why lie?

So why make up the lie? The more conspiratorial will conclude that the Obama administration wants to have a pretext for seizing weapons. Public statements like those made by Hillary Clinton certainly put pressure on the US to take some sort of action, if we’re admitting to being the problem. So far, the Obama administration has not proposed a solution to this mythical problem, but we will want to keep a very close eye when they do.

We’ll, maybe they didn’t lie, the administration just hears what they want to hear and passes it along. That way, if the 90 percent figure goes viral and everyone believes it – they can pass more restrictive gun legislation.

If they get caught – just like all of the administration tax cheats – it just becomes a clerical error that is really no big deal.

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Jim Vicevich

Jim is a veteran broadcaster and conservative/libertarian blogger with more than 25 years experience in TV and radio. Jim's was the long-term host of The Jim Vicevich Show on WTIC 1080 in Hartford from 2004 through 2019. Prior to radio, Jim worked as a business and financial reporter for NBC30 - the NBC owned TV station in Hartford - and as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years while earning six Emmy nominations and three Telly Awards.

4 Comments

  1. Lazybum on April 2, 2009 at 10:18 am

    When have the liberals ever let the truth get in the way of attempting to subvert the constitution?



  2. Dimsdale on April 2, 2009 at 12:09 pm

    Hillary, like Obambi, just pull "facts" out of their respective backsides to suit whatever crackpot, Constitution killing idea that they scheme to inflict on us.



  3. SoundOffSister on April 3, 2009 at 12:20 pm

    I suspect I know what's happening.  The administration creates a mythical problem.  Then, Congress, horrorified by the problem (mythical or otherwise) runs around in circles, and finally passes legislation which won't correct the problem (after all, the problem is  only mythical), but which will deprive citizens of Constitutional rights.  Our President, teleprompter in hand, will then appear on national television and say, "let me be clear, we will not deprive citizens of Constitutional rights".  Shortly thereafter, he will sign the leglislation depriving us of our rights. 



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