Crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, this time following guns

Amazing invesdtigatingjournalism, as usual..going into the areain the news anddocumenting what is happening. GGivingus an undeerstanding we never get from corporate merdia [the networks oe even cable]

This documentary is so full of crap it makes an outhouse look sanitary. The documentary almost whispers that GUNS ARE ILLEGAL IN MEXICO!!!! Every time a drug punk, an innocent victim, a police officer, a soldier is killed by a firearm it is done at the hands of someone who is breaking Mexican law by possessing a weapon. GUN LAWS ONLY RESTRICT LAW ABIDING CITIZENS! This joke of a documentary also glaringly ignores the fact that someone has to pull the triggers of these weapons. These guns just don't jump up out of a gun cabinet and start shooting at people on their own volition. A gun is an inanimate object. It needs a living, breathing, thinking person to pick it up and operate it. The problem is not guns the problem is a nation that has lost control of its citizens and instead of facing the problem they use a typical dope addicts ploy of blaming everything but themselves.
Get a grip Mexico, Put the blame where it really belongs.

Was this entire "Documentary" written by Dennis H. and the Brady bunch? It has been correctly documented and reported, by the FBI and or ATF, that the so called 90% of the guns coming from America is not correct. If Mexico finds 1,000 guns and they only turn over 100 of them to the ATF for tracing, and 90 of those came from guns stores in the US, then yes 90% is correct, but if you use the 90 traced against what is ACTUALLY found, in this scenario 1000, the percentage is only 9. I'm trying to remember the actual percentage, I think it was 18% of ALL guns recovered in Mexico come from the US.

Everyone wants to talk about stopping the legally sold guns. How many arrests have been for illegally attempting to buy or illegally selling guns, of those arrests, how much jail time was handed out?

Would anyone care to guess how much jail time the girl that illegally bought the guns used in the Columbine shooting did?

The only thing that was missing was the "Vote for BO in 12" commercial.

Bunch of B.S. most of those 'American' Guns came from the ATF's operation Gun Runner/ Fast and Furious under Eric Holders guidance. ATF won't give figures because they are under investigation by congressman Darrel Issa

Follow the path of guns and 'other military hardware' from Mexico's southern border. One can't buy live grenades, fully automatic rifles,pistols and RPG's from a gunshow in America. You can how ever buy a fully automatic pistol or rifle if you posses a class 3 firearms permit thats issued by.....guess who.

First, I would like to say how much I appreciate the crew going to Mexico and putting their asses on the line. That being said, I don't believe that I should have my 2nd Amendment right suppressed due to the flow of guns into Mexico.
I do, however, believe that if Mexico is so concerned about the guns, then they should have a better process at the border than just allowing people to walk across and enter Mexico without anyone batting an eye.
I also believe that while I do have the right to bare arms at any and all times, that does not mean that the people or person selling the gun should just fork it over without any consideration of who may be purchasing it. God forbid they sell a gun to a psycho who then walks in to their home in the middle of the night and shoots the seller and his entire family. I suppose it would be their problem at that point, should anyone survive.
Also, the Mexican cops and military see people on the streets who are known affiliates of the gangs and cartels. They could do something about it. Turning a blind eye does nothing to stop the senseless killings. Putting some extra cash in their pockets doesn't mean that they or their families can escape reality of the situation they face day in and day out.
While our ATF isn't a perfect organization, our government isn't doing all they can to make sure that the ATF is succeeding to their full capacity. They are too concerned with saving face and being politically correct.
There has to an answer. Obviously, blind eyes and greed from both sides of the border is not it.

I loved the interview with the licensed gun dealer. I would find it most ironic that one of the guns he sells came back to shoot him in the ass.

Christof,
Great coverage on the issue! But lets face it drugs are fueling the fire!
We already have the violence and it’s already flooded into the U.S borders it like a cancer. And It’s a little too late now! I would agree with “wayIseeit” legalize hemp. We as a nation haven’t learned from our past mistakes but insist on repeating the same mistakes. Remember from our history during 1920 – 1932 Prohibition in the United States didn’t work then! People died then too! So why do we think as a nation controlling drugs are gong to do any good now! We fill up our jails & prisons with non-violent offenders. It should be regulated and taxed as tobacco & alcohol are today! Our borders should be secured with a “Great Wall” so to speak but our law makers are feeding us lip service while filling up their pockets up with “political contributions” aka – Bribery. I challenge you to report that and make diffrence!

C'mon guys, you saw for yourselves that one may simply walk across the border to Mexico without being searched. Why wasn't the focus of your program on Mexico tightening up their borders (as the U.S. has been begging them to do for decades) rather than guilting the law abiding U.S. businessmen (gun dealers); and crying "woe is the ATF, the NRA won't let them take our guns". If the gun-grabbers had their way we wouldn't even be allowed to have pea-shooters. The program seemed to have a pretty heavy anti-gun bias in my opinion.

And while I'm at it, the U.S. should legalize marijuana, way I see it that would effectively end 90% of the so called "war on drugs" (and probably give the faltering economy the 'shot in the arm' that it so desperately needs ...and clear out our jails and court rooms). Afterall the U.S. is still the land where one is supposed to be free to do as one wishes, provided their activity of choice does not infringe on the rights of others, is it not ...how does that not include smoking a joint?

Well, good for you to go down there and show us some different angles. Takes some guts. Many of the details on the show I don't agree with, and it would have been a good thing to show more alternate viewpoints. Even with that, I understand that most of the show focused on the Mexican viewpoint.
For those of you that thing guns are the ultimate evil - here's a question for you regarding the episode: During that prison cartel assault, where the sicarios gained entry and murdered the rival gang members that were trapped in the room - do you think the outcome would have been different if the attackers were all armed with machetes and axes versus firearms?
Firearms are only tools - focus efforts on the criminals. Of course, that's kind of hard to do when the criminals have co-opted the legal forces to the extent that's happened in Mexico.

Really sad to see all the violence and death. I like your shows, but this is deceiving, instead of asking the gun dealer how he feels about his guns killing people. Lets ask the dopers how it feels that 3 people died so you can smoke that joint. All of this death is funded by the American doper and their insaitiable need for that next High. None of this would be happening if it were'nt for them.. Legalizing drugs like Heroin and Coke not a good idea. You had part of the story but just didnt finish it correctly that all of this is basically caused by the American drug user. Its also really sad to see our goverment (Fast and Furious)was involved in this by letting the guns go over the border on purpose. Mexico has every right to be angry with us. How does Eric Holder sleep at night. Big cases like that dont get started without director approval look into that.

Im not sure where your getting your info on Wisconsin being lax on gun laws its one of the most restrictive. You dont see people running around with guns on thier hips. They recently within the past couple weeks have allowed concealed carry. Illinois is now the only state that does not allow this.

Cristoff unbeliavable episode and I thank you for your courage and professionalism. I love Vanguard and this is probably one of the best episodes. I really don't have anything to add or say other than I wish more would see an episode like this to get inform of the situation down in Mexico and how negatively or inaction and consuming drugs affects the situation. I for one believe the War on Drugs taht started in the 80s has been lost and there need to be changes or I wouldn't be surprised if the gruesome killings start appearing more and more here in the U.S.

the problem is our drug laws, not our gun laws. reform of our drug laws is what we need, like they've done in places like portugal.

Christof, I respect the fact that you have gone down there and reported from a part of the world that is not very friendly to reporters, risking life and limb getting this story.

But you are flat wrong when you state that the majority of the weapons are coming from the US. Here's an article I wrote in 2010:

There have been estimates of around 2,000 guns a day flowing into Mexico from the US, a lot of weapons by any standard, statements made by several different sources in both the US and Mexican governments. The question is, can the US gun market really supply 2,000 guns a day to Mexican drug traffickers?

In 2010, Auturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the U.S., said Mexico seizes 2,000 guns a day from the United States -- 730,000 a year. That's a far cry from the official statistic from the Mexican attorney general's office, which says Mexico seized 29,000 weapons in all of 2007 and 2008. [2]

In 2007-2008, according to ATF Special Agent William Newell, Mexico submitted 11,000 guns to the ATF for tracing. Close to 6,000 were successfully traced -- and of those, 90 percent -- 5,114 to be exact, according to testimony in Congress by William Hoover -- were found to have come from the U.S.

But in those same two years, according to the Mexican government, 29,000 guns were recovered at crime scenes.

In other words, 68 percent of the guns that were recovered were never submitted for tracing. And when you weed out the roughly 6,000 guns that could not be traced from the remaining 32 percent, it means 83 percent of the guns found at crime scenes in Mexico could not be traced to the U.S. [2]

Another claim that has been made recently is that 90% of the weapons smuggled into Mexico are from the U.S.

In an, April 2010, FactCheck.Org article, they could not verify whether or not that is a true statement;

There's no dispute that thousands of handguns, military-style rifles and other firearms are purchased in the U.S. and end up in the hands of Mexican criminals each year. It's relatively easy to buy such guns legally in Texas and other border states and to smuggle them across.

But is it true, as President Obama said, that "more than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States?" Government statistics don't actually support that claim.

The figure represents only the percentage of crime guns that have been submitted by Mexican officials and traced by U.S. officials. According to BATF , "we can find no hard data on the total number of guns actually recovered in Mexico". But U.S. and Mexican officials both say that Mexico recovers more guns than it submits for tracing. Therefore, the percentage of guns "recovered" that are traced to U.S. sources necessarily is less than 90 percent. Where do the others come from? U.S. officials can't say. [1]

I found an interesting blog by Ralph Weller that gives somewhat of a first hand account of the state of gun smuggling in Mexico. He is right in one point for sure;

"Cartels buy their arms from countries around the world, most any place where military weapons can be purchased on the black market, or from countries wishing to destabilize North America. They arm themselves from a worldwide black market of full auto military weapons including grenades, land mines and RPGs. They also "procure" their weapons from the less than savory from within the Mexican military.

The drug cartels can easily afford to fly their weaponry into Mexico using their own fleet of aircraft on to remote airfields, or land them on remote Mexican shores from their fleet of vessels. They do it with drugs all of the time. Drug cartels buying semi-auto AR15 or AK rifles from U.S. gun dealers is viewed as a joke by Mexico's drug cartel, most Mexicans, and unfortunately by the Mexican government. The only people fooled by all the political rhetoric are Americans listening to the likes of Attorney General Eric Holder and other anti-gun politicians. [5]"

So, what's the truth...there is truth to all of it. It's true that some weapons are coming from the US gun market but that is not the only source. It's impossible to determine what percentage of illicit weapons originate in the US because the Mexican government is not allowing US officials to inspect all of the guns they recover and the US can't determine what is being smuggled out of the country because of the lack of record keeping requirements of private buyers and sellers. It appears, by all reports, the cartels use all means at their disposal to arm their armies and part of that is exploiting the US gun market and gun purchasing laws, along with other sources, in every way possible.

The bottom line is this, if weapon smuggling from the United States dried up today, it would have very little affect on the cartel's ability to supply weapons to its members, the proximity of the U.S. and the liberal gun laws of the border states make it a convenient source, but by no means is it their only source.

Sources:
[1] Counting Mexico's Guns, April 17, 2009 - Corrected: April 22, 2009
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/04/counting-mexicos-guns/

[2] The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S., April 02, 2009 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/04/02/myth-percent-guns-mexico-fr...