Will Obama Blame This On U. S. Guns, Too?

Canadians who have recently returned from Mexico should be on alert for flu-like symptoms that could be connected to a severe respiratory illness, federal health officials said in issuing a travel advisory.

A severe respiratory illness appears to have infected 137 people in south and central areas of Mexico, with cases concentrated in Mexico City and three other areas, including 20 deaths, the Public Health Agency of Canada said.

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Noted Quote: Obama's Gun Control Agenda

“The idea that American-manufactured firearms are responsible for the growing violence in Mexico isn’t grounded in reality, but the Obama Administration is using this violence as justification to require stricter licensing requirements and markings on firearms by U.S. manufacturers. The majority of the gun violence that is occurring in the drug wars in Mexico is the result of assault weapons, including fully automatic versions, which aren’t even available for sale in the United States. Many of these weapons are coming from other countries in Central and South America and deserters from the Mexican military. I am strongly opposed to placing more stringent requirements on U.S. gun manufacturers, especially when the evidence shows that they are not the problem. This is an instance of the Obama Administration using alternative means to place greater regulations on the manufacture and sale of legal firearms in the United States. I believe that my colleagues in the United States Senate understand this to be the case and will do as they have for the last 10 years and not ratify this treaty (Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials).” ~ U. S. Senator Jim Inhofe

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A Letter To The Oklahoman's Editor

Ed (Kelley): This story appeared in today's (Friday's) paper:

Most of the weapons being used in the Mexican drug wars — 6,290 people died last year and more than 1,000 this year — are smuggled across the border from gun dealers in the U.S.

I don't know where this came from, but it reads like U. S. gun dealers are smuggling firearms across the border. Patently, untrue. Were it true, the BATFE would be having a field day slamming the door on gun dealers. If the story had read "some firearms purchased from gun dealers are smuggled across the border into Mexico," it would be a provable statement.

And the assertion/implication that "Most of the weapons being used in the Mexican drug wars" come from the U. S. is unproven based on what the BATFE reports. Latest figure I've seen is 17 percent of the weapons seized in Mexico have been traced to U. S. sales. That number is based on this report:

In 2007-2008, according to ATF Special Agent William Newell, Mexico submitted 11,000 guns to the ATF for tracing. Close to 6,000 were successfully traced -- and of those, 90 percent -- 5,114 to be exact, according to testimony in Congress by William Hoover -- were found to have come from the U.S.

But in those same two years, according to the Mexican government, 29,000 guns were recovered at crime scenes.

In other words, 68 percent of the guns that were recovered were never submitted for tracing. (It is reported that's because they had manufacturer-of-origin markings from other counties.)

Do the math and it appears, based on these numbers, that about 83 percent of ALL the firearms recovered were not traced to the U. S. ~ Mike McCarville

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Putting The Lie To Mexico Gun Claims

From Fox News via Mark Shannon ~ You've heard this shocking "fact" before -- on TV and radio, in newspapers, on the Internet and from the highest politicians in the land: 90 percent of the weapons used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the United States.

There's just one problem with the 90 percent "statistic" and it's a big one: It's just not true.

In fact, it's not even close. The fact is, only 17 percent of guns found at Mexican crime scenes have been traced to the U.S.

What's true, an ATF spokeswoman told FOXNews.com, in a clarification of the statistic used by her own agency's assistant director, "is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S."

But a large percentage of the guns recovered in Mexico do not get sent back to the U.S. for tracing, because it is obvious from their markings that they do not come from the U.S.

"Not every weapon seized in Mexico has a serial number on it that would make it traceable, and the U.S. effort to trace weapons really only extends to weapons that have been in the U.S. market," Matt Allen, special agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told FOX News.

In 2007-2008, according to ATF Special Agent William Newell, Mexico submitted 11,000 guns to the ATF for tracing. Close to 6,000 were successfully traced -- and of those, 90 percent -- 5,114 to be exact, according to testimony in Congress by William Hoover -- were found to have come from the U.S.

But in those same two years, according to the Mexican government, 29,000 guns were recovered at crime scenes.

In other words, 68 percent of the guns that were recovered were never submitted for tracing. And when you weed out the roughly 6,000 guns that could not be traced from the remaining 32 percent, it means 83 percent of the guns found at crime scenes in Mexico could not be traced to the U.S.

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