ATF data defy theory (GOP/NRA Big Lie Fairy Tale), tie U.S. gun flow to cartels [View All]

[jpak]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/22/MNCU1KE0CH.DTL

The claim that Mexican cartels rely on huge stocks of military surplus weaponry from civil wars in Central America is the mantra of pro-gun organizations fearful that linking drug violence to U.S.-purchased weapons could lead to more gun control.

Though gun-rights advocates and at least one prominent U.S. senator ferociously stand by that politically charged theory, federal firearms data show only a tiny percentage originate south of Mexico's border.

Indeed, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and others have cited the Mexico-bound flow of weapons from firearms dealers in border states including Texas and California in arguing for restoring the expired federal assault-weapons ban and other gun restrictions.

In response to a query from Feinstein, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reported last month that of the 29,284 weapons recovered in Mexico and submitted for tracing in 2009 and 2010, a total of 20,504 - 70 percent - were "United States-sourced firearms." Virtually all of the remaining weapons were not traceable because insufficient information was submitted.

<more>