Mexico finds machine gun mounted 'technical'

Houston Chronicle:

On the very day officials confirmed President Barack Obama will appoint a border czar to combat drug cartels, Mexican police announced they confiscated a U.S.-made machine gun that could penetrate steel from a mile away, likely the most destructive weapon of its type ever seized in Mexico.

Together, the two moves signal the ever increasing strength of cartel warfare — and the task ahead for the U.S. and Mexican governments.

The discovery of the .50-caliber Browning machine gun, which Mexican authorities said was mounted in the bed of a pickup and has a rate of fire of 800 rounds a minute, also came just days before Obama’s first trip to Mexico.

The White House is promising cooperation with Mexico, and both Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon, are under pressure to slow the drug running, gun smuggling and violence that threatens Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

The border czar, former U.S. attorney Alan Bersin of San Diego, will coordinate American policy on immigration, guns, drugs and bulk cash shipments into Mexico, a Department of Homeland Security official told the Houston Chronicle. Bersin’s appointment is expected to be announced today.

The discovery of the weapon in the northern Mexico state of Sonora serves notice that cartels are ready for all-out war. Mexican authorities have not yet said how it got into the country.

The gun, which fires rounds nearly 6 inches long, was discovered by federal police on routine patrol when they spotted the truck parked outside a house. A woman was arrested at the scene, and police said the Browning, part of a grenade launcher and other weaponry have been linked to the Beltran Leyva drug cartel.

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Vigil suspected the weapon belonged to the Mexican military, but was obtained by corrupting military officers.

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What should be clear is that this weapon was not purchased in a US gun store. I think the DEA agent is probably right in suggesting that it came from the Mexican army. If not there, it came from a black market sources in South and Central America. But the article tends to play into the myth that most of the insurgents weapons were bought over the counter in the US. This seems to be something the Obama administration is pushing in order to get greater control over gun sales. They are still pushing the discredited 90 percent myth on weapons in the hands of the insurgents coming from US dealers.

This gun is a good example of why that myth is invalid. It will not be sent to the US for testing because the Mexicans know it was not bought at a US gun store. They can probably match its serial numbers with a Mexican army unit.

This Washington Times Editorial today focuses on the 90 percent myth which is becoming the Obama administration's big lie. Readers of this blog know I have been at the forefront in calling attention to the Mexican criminal insurgency. But in dealing with it we must do so based on the facts and not use it as a prop for another agenda involving the 2nd Amendment in the US.

The Houston Chronicle should not allow itself to be used by the administration to push an agenda instead of reporting the facts in perspective.

Fausta has more on the gun which appears to be a World War II era weapon that has not been used by the US in decades. It certainly has never been sold legally from any gun store in the US.