4/02/2009

"The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S."

My son Maxim has this piece over at Fox News with William La Jeunesse.

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.

-- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it to reporters on a flight to Mexico City.

-- CBS newsman Bob Schieffer referred to it while interviewing President Obama.

-- California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at a Senate hearing: "It is unacceptable to have 90 percent of the guns that are picked up in Mexico and used to shoot judges, police officers and mayors ... come from the United States."

-- William Hoover, assistant director for field operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified in the House of Representatives that "there is more than enough evidence to indicate that over 90 percent of the firearms that have either been recovered in, or interdicted in transport to Mexico, originated from various sources within the United States."

There's just one problem with the 90 percent "statistic" and it's a big one:

It's just not true. . . . .

"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.


The key point is in bold.

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3 Comments:

Blogger Bill Bulgier said...

Nice article, Maxim. The Arizona Rebulic needs a copy as well as Napalitano and the rest of the folks in DC.

4/03/2009 9:50 AM  
Blogger juandos said...

So are we going to hear an apology from the hilda hag for these lying comments: Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians?

Or will we continue to hear the same factless and inane blather Clinton made as a Senator?

Clinton continues to continues to embarrass America everytime she opens her pie-hole...

4/03/2009 2:11 PM  
Blogger Guy J. Sagi said...

You really don't think the folks at the Arizona Republic would read some real reporting, do you? It just wouldn't suit their agenda.

4/03/2009 6:36 PM  

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