LA Times: “U.S. effort to slow flow of guns into Mexico failing”
Here we go again. Once again the United States is being blamed for the violence in Mexico. A story this week from The Los Angeles Times noted “an inspector general’s review finds that a once-praised federal program is too narrowly focused, fails to share information with law enforcement agencies and does not adequately trace U.S. guns in Mexico.”
The paper further noted, as has been noted time and time again that there are a lot of gun dealers near the Mexican border. But could it be there are numerous major cities not all that far from the Mexican border, including San Diego and El Paso, which are right on the border? The paper offered this thought:
“About 7,000 licensed U.S. gun dealers operate near the 2,000-mile border, and cartel leaders often hire straw buyers to purchase firearms and pay others to transport the weapons into Mexico. Just as the drugs flow steadily north, the guns reach Mexico secreted under truck beds or stashed in car trunks, sometimes even hidden in clothing.
So what is the solution? Telling the gun shops to close shop? Or how about making gun laws tougher in the United States so that law-abiding citizens can’t own guns. That will show those Mexicans we mean business. Seriously, why doesn’t this story die?
More Old News, More Misinformation From the MSM
Lindsay Machak of the Monitor in Texas reported this week, “American gun dealers have sold about 90 percent of the guns recovered at Mexican crime scenes since 2006, a new study finds.”
That “new” study was released way back in August, so we have to wonder if Machak missed a deadline or is just slow to report the “news.” The key part of “news” is that it tells something “new,” and frankly there isn’t much “new” in her reporting.
More importantly, as has been widely noted, her information is wrong. That 90 percent figure has been widely debunked. Finally, we have to question her reliability in sourcing the story. She only spoke with law enforcement and cited a Mayors Against Illegal Guns report, failing to offer any counterpoint that would question the findings.
The Monitor seems just one example of the mainstream media that we feel is necessary to “monitor” for the misinformation they spread about gun related issues.
Washington Independent Parrots WaPo While Adding Own Misinformation
The Washington Independent didn’t offer much of an independent voice, instead just restating the same biased reporting as The Washington Post on the topic of guns supposedly heading to Mexico. The paper noted:
“It is very difficult to purchase firearms in Mexico, and the Mexican government claims 90 percent of weapons it confiscates come from the U.S., the Post reports. (U.S. law enforcement agents — and gun lobbyists — claim the percentage is actually lower.)”
Why exactly is the counterpoint in parentheses? The use of parentheses is to enclose words or figures that clarify or are used as an aside, or to include material that you want de-emphasize or that wouldn’t normally fit into the flow of the text. By these grammar rules, it suggests that the editors are de-emphasizing the counterpoint argument (but should hardly come as a surprise – and yes, we’re doing this for effect).
Latin American Herald Tribune Offers Misinformation on Mexican Gun Story
We’d love to know the source for a statement in a recent story from the Latin American Herald Tribune titled: “Mexico, U.S. to Cooperate in Fight Against Arms Trafficking, Money Laundering.” The paper offers this passage:
“Not only is the United States the main market for the drugs smuggled through Mexico but well-armed cartels also get most of their high-powered weapons from dealers north of the border.” Read more
Associated Press Doesn’t Call Out Calderon Lies
If an American politician suggested something that wasn’t true we’d expect the American mainstream media to call them out on it. Even when a foreign leader says something that is patently wrong, the MSM usually steps up. The exception is when it involves guns, and then the MSM just gives politicians a pass, as the Associated Press has once again done with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Read more
BBC News Quotes Mexican President: “US Irresponsible on Gun Trade”
In a news story from the BBC, Mexican President Felipe Calderon offers a few bold statements. First, he is quoted as saying, “I don’t honestly think the United States has many any significant efforts to deal with drug addiction,” but he then makes the even bolder statement of saying, “the American weapons industry is a veracious and ambitious industry. It’s clear to me that they’ve created conflict in poor country in Africa just to sell weapons, and in the same way they’re making money in this situation here in Mexico.” Read more
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. Read more
Voice of America Over Simplifies Mexican Cartel Problems
There is no doubt that the violence south of the border, which is now sadly straying across the border into the United States from Mexico, is a problem for both nations. However, the problem is oversimplified in the mainstream media, and too often much of blame falls on Americans, and more importantly on American guns. Interestingly, one aspect that isn’t mentioned so much is the real problem: the American drug user. Read more
Police Go Where the Guns Are
Time and time again we question buybacks, new laws that restrict guns to law-abiding citizens and ask why don’t the police instead put more efforts to getting to the real problem, namely going after the bad guys directly. But now ABC 13 in Toledo, Ohio is reporting that local police are doing just that:
“Police are currently doing round-ups where violent criminals who carry guns hang out. It’s a problem plaguing the streets of Toledo.”
Finally, this sounds like a real solution to the problem. If you know where the criminals hang out, do sweeps instead of buybacks that won’t likely get guns off the streets!
Firing Back: Debunking Myths
A simple story on a local Fox affiliate has started a major conspiracy. The theory says that the National Guard is currently working with police in Albany, New York, to confiscate weapons from citizens in violation of the Constitution and Posse Comitatus. This story is making the rounds online, but the surprising thing is that it is getting little pick up in the mainstream media.
Of course the argument could be made that the MSM is so biased about guns that they won’t pick up this story as they don’t want the public to know. But that’s just why conspiracy theories get going. This is really a story that is so blown out of proportion that it deserves to sit up next to those stories that say “9/11 was in an inside job.”
Kristin Lowman for Fox 23 News, WXXA-DT in Albany, New York first reported the actual story, which noted that the National Guard has worked to develop technology that can scan a car to find hidden drugs or weapons. This story, which includes video, is suddenly turned around into some sort of wild conspiracy, where it becomes a tale of the National Guard training to take down militias and seize guns. In the latter case the authors aren’t so much real reporters, but journalist vigilantes, who hide behind names such as “Americans4Turth.” We appreciate and respect the desire to uncover the truth, but would you believe anything from a news organization that won’t offer a bylined article?
The moral of the story is don’t trust everything you read online. We’ll be continuing to watch for real threats to our Second Amendment rights, but this is one that is making a lot of very little.
