NCR: U.S. Guns, Not Obama, to Blame for Mexican Violence

NCR: U.S. Guns, Not Obama, to Blame for Mexican Violence

In the second installation of a three-part series on “gun violence in Mexico,” the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) continues to blame the U.S. for gun violence in Mexico, while viewing Fast & Furious as a legitimate attempt at law enforcement which just happened to go wrong.

According to NCR, Obama tried to reinstitute an “assault weapons” ban in the U.S. as a way to keep Mexico safer. He also pledged to “keep increasing the pressure on the gun traffickers.”

NCR claims part of the pressure on traffickers included Operation Fast & Furious, which turned out to be a “botched 2009 operation to track gunrunners that resulted in ATF agents losing between 1,400-2,000 firearms,” most of which were “assault weapons.” Only half were recovered, and one was “used to kill a U.S. border agent,” Brian Terry, in December 2010.

Ironically, NCR fails to note this “botched” operation rendered Obama’s DOJ culpable in the very things Obama swore to fight against: “assault weapons” and gun trafficking. 

After overlooking this, NCR shows Obama tried to fix the problems Fast & Furious created by passing more gun control for border states: specifically, a requirement that multiple purchases of rifles with detachable magazines and a caliber larger than .22 “merit [extra] documentation.”

The result? Arms traffickers have adapted to this new rule and are “sending their straw purchasers to states farther north.” There they are “buying smaller weapons with semi-automatic capacity.”

According to NCR, “gun violence in Mexico” is the result of gun trafficking, straw purchasers, and weapons with “semi-automatic capacity” that can be found in the U.S. Obama has done his best with speeches, Fast & Furious, and new gun control measures for border states, but even these gun control measures were de-funded by a Republican-controlled Congress.

In other words, we are to believe that Mexican gun violence is the fault of the U.S., but Obama has done all he can to rectify it. 

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.

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