Automatic Weapons Heading to Mexico

Numerous sources are reporting that a 19-year-old U.S. citizen has been arrested at the border to Mexico, and according to 760AM KFMB, the man was caught with a cache of weapons. The news radio reports the items as including:

“…five automatic guns, two pistols, numerous rounds of ammunition, 23 loaded magazines, 10 rifle slings and other gun accessories.”

The San Diego Crime Examiner, which is part of Examiner.com included a bit more information, noting that U.S. Customs and Border Protection found several weapons. The site noted:

“The weapons included three P90 standard machine guns, a M-4 machine gun, and one AK 47 machine gun, the CBP said. The weapons stash also included a 5.7 semi-automatic handgun and a 10 mm Colt semi-automatic.”

No doubt some in the mainstream media, as well as numerous politicians will try to spin this into something it is not. First, it is not clear if the weapons are in fact “automatic,” which is a point that needs to be crystal clear. Several sources state the weapons to be “machine guns,” but as many firearm enthusiasts know only the P90 could rightfully be called a “machine gun.” The M-4 is a carbine, based on the M-16 assault rifle/AR-15 semi-automatic rifle; while the AK-47 is simply an assault rifle/semi-automatic rifle.

And here too the wording is the key. The “P90 standard machine gun” is a Belgian made submachine gun, which is used by numerous military, paramilitary and police units around the word. The PS90 is the semi-automatic commercial version. So the key is whether these were in fact “fully automatic” weapons, which wouldn’t be something you could buy at just any gun show. The commercial version, the PS90, also retails for $1800 or more, and it isn’t a gun that is typically stocked at many gun shows.

In other words there is much more to this story than just a 19-year-old who went north of the border to buy a few guns. This is one we’ll be watching very closely.