Drug-war weapons come from abroad
I am responding to your editorial “Gun-running gone amok,” (June 22). The basic premise of your editorial – that the massive smuggling of guns from southwestern American gun stores have fueled the drug cartel wars – is in error.
It is against the law for American sporting good stores to have fully automatic weapons (machine guns) for sale. It is machine guns that are creating the horrid bloodshed in Mexico. Assault weapons are fully automatic (machine guns).
Let’s look at this from another angle. You are the head of a drug cartel with millions of ill-gotten dollars. You have incredible power. You need weapons. Are you going to send Juan up to Bob’s Pretty Good Gun Shop in Phoenix to solve this problem? And what exactly will Juan buy, illegal? A used Colt revolver? A bolt action 30-06? A lever action 30-30?
I think you’re going to send Juan to an illegal arms dealer in Hong Kong or Singapore who has access to thousands of surplus assault rifles from the millions that the Chinese and the many iron curtain countries have manufactured over the last 50 years.