Regarding the Washington Post’s Feb. 5 editorial “The gun flow to Mexico”:
By Chris W. Cox
FAIRFAX, Va. –-(Ammoland.com)- The Post’s assertion that 70 to 80 percent of traceable guns can be traced to the United States has long been discredited.
Mexican police trace only a fraction of the guns they seize, and they are specifically trained not to request U.S. traces on guns without U.S. markings, according to Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Furthermore, according to federal data released in June, 78 percent of firearms submitted for tracing in 2009 and 66 percent of firearms submitted in 2010 were not traced back to final sales by U.S. licensed dealers.
The Calderon and Obama administrations need every possible diversion from the real problems that cause and exacerbate this drug war. The Mexicans need to take the spotlight away from the rampant corruption that plagues their government, judiciary, law enforcement agencies and military.
President Obama desperately needs distractions from the criminal culpability and gross incompetence of his Justice Department and his attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., with regard to the deadly Fast and Furious tragedy.
Regrettably, it appears that both administrations have found a willing collaborator in The Post.
Chris W. Cox is the Executive Director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action.
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