Here's a very good
article from last year explaining where (and how) some of those goofy statistics originated. To quote Jeunesse and Lott, the points of origin for Mexican crime guns are:
Quote:
- The Black Market. Mexico is a virtual arms bazaar, with fragmentation grenades from South Korea, AK-47s from China, and shoulder-fired rocket launchers from Spain, Israel and former Soviet bloc manufacturers.
– Russian crime organizations. Interpol says Russian Mafia groups such as Poldolskaya and Moscow-based Solntsevskaya are actively trafficking drugs and arms in Mexico.
- South America. During the late 1990s, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) established a clandestine arms smuggling and drug trafficking partnership with the Tijuana cartel, according to the Federal Research Division report from the Library of Congress.
– Asia. According to a 2006 Amnesty International Report, China has provided arms to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Chinese assault weapons and Korean explosives have been recovered in Mexico.
– The Mexican Army. More than 150,000 soldiers deserted in the last six years, according to Mexican Congressman Robert Badillo. Many took their weapons with them, including the standard issue M-16 assault rifle made in Belgium.
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Attorney General Holder claimed that 90% of crime guns in Mexico came from the US. So, where does that figure come from? It comes from traces the BATFE does on guns which are recovered and submitted for investigation. The Mexican government isn't going to bother sending back guns that obviously originated elsewhere, or on which the serial numbers have been defaced. They only do so if it appears that the gun originated in America.
So, an American gun gets sent back, and the trace reveals that it came from the United States.
The statistic in question proves only that 90% of American guns come from America. As for the other 10%, well…I'm scratching my head, too. The salient fact is that this statistic does not in any way indicate what percentage of all weapons being used in Mexico actually come from America, nor how they got there.
There's no point in submitting an Israeli Galil, a Chinese AK-47 or a Vektor carbine from South Africa, but find an old 5-shot S&W Chief's Special (which has probably passed through innumerable owners at that point) on the body of a drug dealer, and that's proof that American gun dealers are involved in a sinister plot to fuel open warfare in Mexico.
I spoke with a BATFE agent last year, and his estimate was that the actual number was closer to 8%, a number which mostly comprises hunting-style rifles and small handguns. Few of the guns traced were actually used in violent crimes.