WaPo Cites 80 Percent Figure Long After it Was Debunked

Do the editors at The Washington Post actually believe what they write or will they use false numbers just to prove a point? We know the paper is vehemently anti-gun, but is it creditable to quote a figure that most of the mainstream media has acknowledge is a made up number? In an editorial titled “U.S. falls short in helping Mexico end its drug war,” deputy editorial page editor Jackson Diehl quotes the “old 80 percent of guns come from the United States.” Hasn’t this number been debunked enough for Mr. Diehl? Apparently not.

Mr. Diehl writes:

“…in Mexico’s war, the United States also plays the role of supplier to the enemy — and it does that far more efficiently. At a discussion sponsored by the think tank Third Way in Washington last week, Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhán pointed out that the vast majority of guns and money flowing to the cartels come from the United States, including from 7,000 federally licensed gun stores along the border in Texas and Arizona. Eighty percent of the 75,000 guns seized by the Calderón government over three years came from the United States.”

OK, so he’s quoting figures that came from an independent group, and quotes Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhán, but the simple truth is that this number is erroneous. It is simply not true that 80 percent of the guns seized came from the United States, and if Mr. Diehl had bothered to read the rival paper in Washington he’d know this. The Washington Times set the record straight this past May:

“(The) claim that 80 percent of guns used in Mexican crimes come from the United States is completely false. Most weapons seized in Mexico have traceable serial numbers that show they come from countries other than the United States. The 80 percent number reflects how many guns sent to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for tracing end up being from America. Most weapons seized in Mexico aren’t transferred to U.S. authorities, so that figure is meaningless for calculating overall totals.”

But beyond this not so simple mistake, it is frustrating to see that Mr. Diehl basically is calling for America do more to help the Mexican government, when Mexico has done little to stop the flow of illegal immigrants to America, or stop the flow of drugs to our country. Maybe when Mexico steps up and stops blaming the United States for its problems the time will come for us to actually step up and help.