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Originally Posted by jdun
There is actually one case against one gun dealer in the USA that suppose to supplies to guns to the Mexican. That case has been drop because the Judge said the ATF faked the records.
You would expect more indictments on gun dealers across the USA because the serial numbers will lead them to the gun dealers. But again that isn't the case.
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I'm not sure gun dealers selling weapons illegally is really the problem. As I understand it, the main issue is that Mexicans - both cartel gunmen and civilians - are acquiring the guns through straw purchases. A lot of them have relatives who live in the U.S. legally and buy them the guns.
Again, I must emphasize that in Texas, there are FFLs who seem to be aware of this happening and want to do something to stop it. There are accounts of dealers who get some thuggish-looking Latino who comes in asking about a gun but doesn't buy, and then a few hours later, a Latina comes in and buys the same gun he was looking at.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdun
16" is standard AR for a lot of LEA. The US military used 16" in the past before Colt went with 14.5". 16" barrel is standard across the board so the point is moot.
The lowers is what the ATF considered a firearms on an AR. It is where the serial number is located. The upper are not considered a firearm. You can go to any internet gun shop and have it deliver to your home. You can get a 14.5" barrel or shorter deliver to your home. There is no law preventing you owning a 14.5 upper or less in the USA. However it is illegal to mate it with a lower that isn't NFA. Again the 14.5" vs 16" is a moot point.
Guns are exported to Mexico legally.
The guns that are used by Mexicans gangs are full auto. If they are able to convert to full auto they are capable of making it themselves.
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First of all, I haven't seen any data indicating the percentage of weapons used by the cartels that are full-auto. I wouldn't trust the media, either. We all know how much they confuse semi- with full-auto "assault weapons" on a regular basis. The news reports which give the impression that the cartels are using exclusively full-auto weapons aren't to be trusted.
Anyway, why would anyone use 16" barrels unless that's what happened to be available to them? Most of the ARs seen in Mexican govt. hands seem to be short-barreled versions, and those are seen occasionally in cartel gun caches, but not always.
I'm sorry, but what you're saying just doesn't make sense. It makes way more sense to me that cartel gunmen would ask relatives or hire straw buyers here in Texas. It's fairly easy to do and to get away with, and the semi-auto ARs with 16" barrels do almost everything their full-auto, shorter-barreled counterparts do. Why manufacture a new, full-auto AR from scratch (which would take expertise that I doubt these illiterate thugs have), when you can have someone across the border purchase something that's fairly easy to buy at a Texas FFL?
Note that I am not endorsing gun bans or anything of the sort. My stance is that if Congress would just admit the War on Drugs has failed and end it right now, we wouldn't even need to worry about all this cartel war bullshit.