A few facts from me....and then an email from a viewer....and then your turn to post:
1. I have in the last 2 months, TWICE gone to Mexico/Arizona area to report on the violence associated with the drug cartels. Yes, I did the old fashion thing: I did not rely on rumors that might be floating in cyberspace, but rather went to the story to see for myself and to report what I was told and learned to you. I brought our cameras and took pictures and video -- even video of the seized machine guns.
2. On booth trips I spent substantial time with and speaking to the ATF. I asked a million questions of them! (ok, maybe not a million...but many..)
3. ATF is one of our branches of law enforcement. They work really hard for all of us. They risk their lives. I appreciate what they do. I know you do, too.
4. I went through information with our ATF about the source of high powered weapons used by the drug cartels against law enforcement. I was shown weapons - machine gun type - that the ATF said was seized from very violent people/drug cartels and then traced by our ATF (law enforcement.) The ATF traces every weapon seized and the tracing is done by numbers on the weapons. Many of the weapons were seized in Mexico and many in the USA.
5. The ATF people I spoke to told me this: the high powered weapons / machine gun type weapons are manufactured overseas (China, Belgium, Russia etc) and then TRANSPORTED THROUGH the United States and into Mexico. Once in Mexico, drug cartels have used these very powerful weapons against Mexican law enforcement (and now I assume the army) and greatly over power the police.
6. I was also told by the ATF agents who are there on the ground that they are deeply disappointed by what some are saying -- in particular they talked about some things said by members of the NRA and then spread (virally) on the internet. I have not seen what the NRA has said but what I was told is that many in the ATF believe there is an effort to undermine what the ATF has actually seen on the ground: machine gun type weapons made overseas and then transported (and traced) through the United States to Mexico..and then used against law enforcement.
7. I respect law enforcement. It is a very tough job. The ATF I spoke to are putting their lives on the line everyday for us -- they do not seem to have a motive to lie. They want to be safe and they want us safe.
8. I reported about the trips we took and what we were told. I also showed you video and still pictures. We also interviewed ATF for you. In short, we did not simply make stuff up -- we hit the ground and mined it for facts.
9. If any of you have proof that contradicts what the ATF has told us, post it here. I am always anxious to get the story right. Until I get proof to the contrary, I will assume what the ATF showed me and told me is correct. I suspect you would do the same.
10. By the way, I do not know the guy who sent this email below. Note that this is one of many emails I have received on this topic and hence why I grabbed one, posted it and blogged. The one I picked was simply chosen randomly.
Now, having written the above, here is an email I received. It is not unlike others that I have received. Read below and then post your comment. Do you think I did not do my homework? do you think I don't care? do you think I am lying? wrong? Do you think the ATF is lying to me?
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Hopefully this will get to your desk. Rumor control has it that you really screwed up on the issue of where the drug gangs are sourcing their weapons. I don't know if you have done your homework but the reports are these drug gangs have weapons that profile a platoon strenght army unit. With the tons of drug money they have every arms merchant in the world has been knocking on thier door. They more than likely have raided Mexican armories and they have no problem getting what ever they want no matter the source.
In the US it takes a special Federal License to have a fully automatic weapon as a private citizen. Yes, some have them. No, they do not source these drug gangs. The term "assault rifle" in our country is a politcal construct to misidentify these semi-automatic weapons for the purpose of confiscation. I have heard it said that perhaps 17% of what they use may come from our country but if you are suggesting that they get these automatic weapons and crew served weapons from the US then you might back off whatever you may be smoking ( I do remember you telling me of your smoking adventures in high school). The gun grabbers here in the US have lied and decieved the public at every turn in the depiction of these weapons and there has been a deafening silence by the main stream media on the open warfare along our borders. People who live in these border states talk of feeling abandoned and at risk every day. The real story is the willingness of the political elite to have our laws flaunted by so called Sanctuary Cities, the political protection offered to the illegals by administrations from San Francisco to New York, and the rape of the American tax payer to subsidize the South American Welfare State in our own country. The Justice Department refuses to enforce the law and suggest in so many words (contact your Congressman) that our laws matter not and are only enforced based on which way the political winds are blowing in DC.
In my humble opinion we have no justice. The law is used to keep the "little people" down and the betrayal of the political elite is almost complete in its corruption of our laws and institutions.
