[MT2008]

Originally Posted by jdun

We got a close border but not close enough IMO. It is harder to smuggle guns to Mexico from the USA then from other Latin countries. Mexico southern border is wide open, anything to everything comes from the South.

People have complained about the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants into this country for years. How is it more difficult to smuggle guns out than to smuggle people and drugs in?

Originally Posted by jdun

It doesn't matter if it is a straw purchases or not the serial number will trace all the way back to the original manufacture. The ATF will know who was the buyer and who was the seller. If most of the arms came from straw buyers in the USA then the ATF would know, yes? Yet there is only one person that was taken to court and the judge threw the case out.

Isn't that because the serial numbers are often removed?

Also, you aren't distinguishing between FFLs and individuals who buy from them, and then re-sell the guns.

Originally Posted by jdun

It does not take much time to manufacture a weapon. You do not need a education. Ten years old kids in third world countries are manufacturing firearms in their hunt with basic tools. If these kids can do it I bet those thugs can.

It is cheaper and safer for drug dealers to manufacture firearms then to smuggle it into the country from the USA. All they need is a $1,000 milling machine. Put a computer on it, hire a kid to feed the machine, and you'll be pumping out firearms 24/7.

And that still makes no sense to me. How is cheaper or safer to make a gun? Why would you buy a $1000 milling machine to manufacture an AK that can be bought for under $500 at an FFL, if you know people who can buy it for you? And the thing is, if the person smuggling the gun gets caught, then it still doesn't come back to them either way. The drug dealers don't smuggle the guns themselves; they get other people to do it for them.

Originally Posted by jdun

16" barrel is the standard. Everyone use them including the military and LEO. You can't said the 16" barrel is made for civilians only because that's not true. The US Marine use 20" barrels so if you see a 20" barrel AR15 use by drug thugs can you said it came from the US Marines? All I'm saying it is a moot point to even mention barrel length.

I know, but I'm talking about AR-15 carbines. Of course most military M16s (the full-size models) have 20" barrels. But on a carbine, 16" usually means that the gun was made for the civilian market. Most of the full-auto carbine AR-15 variants used by the military and SWAT teams have shorter barrels than that - 14.5" is standard on the M4, while 11.5" is preferred for SWAT.

So, no, barrel length is not a moot point when we're talking about AR carbines. If you see an M4gery-type rifle with a 16" barrel (as most of the guns in that picture have), it's safe to assume that it's a civilian model that started out in an American gun store.