So you thought that the uproar over Americans having their rights taken from them as a result of Mexican Criminal activity had silenced to gun grabbers? Not so… As usual it simply put a hush on things for convenience. Nothing has changed a single iota. The administrations plan is still to take away Americans ability to fight back in an effective manner against murderous thugs. Or perhaps it is so that Americans cannot resist their own government when they become the thugs? The fine folks that brought you Ruby Ridge and the Waco Holocaust are going to rescue you once again from yourselves! Yes, pigs are flying but they are a buffed and polished bunch. Now with pretty new lipstick.
Homeland Security plans for violence on U.S. border
The Associated Press
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WASHINGTON — Tighter gun control and stronger law enforcement in Southwestern states were recommended Thursday by lawmakers concerned about drug violence in Mexico possibly spilling across the border.
The escalating violence — which has killed thousands, mostly south of the border — has been blamed on Mexican drug cartels which one Homeland Security official described as the biggest organized-crime threat facing the United States.
Roger Rufe, Homeland Security’s head of operations, outlined the agency’s plans for protecting the border, a response that includes — as a last resort — deploying military personnel and equipment to the region if other agencies are overwhelmed.
Echoing comments a day earlier from President Barack Obama, Rufe said there currently was no need to militarize the Southwestern border with Mexico, despite violence that threatens to migrate into the United States.
“We would take all resources short of DoD [Defense Department] and National Guard troops before we reach that tipping point,” Rufe told lawmakers on a House homeland security subcommittee. “We very much do not want to militarize our border.”
Rufe did not specify what circumstances would trigger a call for troops.
The violence is blamed on Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s crackdown on drug cartels over the past two years.
In recent weeks, his government has deployed 700 extra federal police to Ciudad Juarez, a city across from El Paso, where local police have been swamped by drug violence. This month, 3,200 federal troops were sent to the city.
Tijuana and Culiacan are also hotbeds of violence, according to Andrew Selee, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Mexican officials say the violence killed 6,290 people last year and more than 1,000 in the first eight weeks of 2009.
“The United States and Mexico border violence can only be solved if we look at all parts of the equation,” Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., said Thursday during a House subcommittee considering changes to U.S. gun laws. “Let’s examine our gun laws, let’s cut down on U.S. drug consumption, let’s ask there to be more resources to root out drug-money laundering,” he said.
Tierney said 90 percent of the weapons seized from Mexican organized crime came from the United States. Tierney said the information was from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Gun-control expert Tom Diaz said the U.S. needs to enforce gun-importation laws already on the books to prevent weapons coming into the U.S. and ending up in Mexico.
Lawmakers also weighed increasing inspections of people and vehicles leaving the U.S. to go to Mexico to help stop the potential smuggling of weapons. The Customs and Border Protection agency currently does some inspections. But Salvador Nieto, a senior official within the agency’s intelligence division, said more resources would be needed if Congress wants to step up inspections.
Warring drug cartels are blamed for more than 560 kidnappings in Phoenix in 2007 and the first half of 2008, as well as killings in Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala., and Vancouver, British Columbia.
Rufe said that while the violence along the border in Mexico is appalling, violent crimes have not increased in U.S. border cities as a result. He said kidnappings are up, but violent crime is down.
“We’re not so concerned, at least at this point, about that violence spilling over into our cities,” he said.
Further, the Homeland Security Department’s representative in Mexico, Alonzo Pena, said the violence there is not as dangerous to U.S. tourists as has been portrayed.
Pena said the violence is in isolated areas of the country and affects only the people involved in crime. He said the violence is not affecting U.S. citizens visiting Mexico, and Americans should not cancel their vacations in the country.
This month, the ATF warned college students on spring breaks not to travel to parts of northern Mexico because it was too dangerous.
In February, the State Department advised travelers to avoid areas of prostitution and drug-dealing in Mexico.
We very much do not want to militarize our border.”
Roger Rufe,
Homeland Security’s head of operations
Tags: Crime, Drug War, Gun Control, Homeland Security?, News, Politics
Conservative Libertarian Outpost 
March 14, 2009 at 07:18
related to this story:
Trouble in Mexico? Anti-Gunners Say, “Blame America.”
Friday, March 13, 2009
Over the past few weeks, the number of stories in the press regarding the escalating violence in Mexico has dramatically increased. Now, hardly a day goes by when another story describing the atrocities committed by violent drug cartels cannot be found in an American newspaper or on a cable news channel.
Mexican Border
Gun owners need to pay attention to these stories, because the opponents of our Second Amendment rights are starting to use this situation as a pretext to push their gun ban agenda here in the United States.
New Attorney General Eric Holder is the first Administration official to cite Mexican drug cartel killings as an excuse to reinstate the semi-auto ban. And now some in Congress have jumped on the bandwagon.
Just this week, two House subcommittees held hearings on the issue. The Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism of the House Homeland Security Committee had a hearing entitled “Border Violence: An Examination of DHS Strategies and Resources,” while the House subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs held a hearing entitled “Money, Guns, and Drugs: Are U.S. Inputs Fueling Violence on the U.S.-Mexico Border.” At the latter hearing, leading anti-gun absolutist Tom Diaz (senior policy analyst at the Violence Policy Center) testified, calling for a litany of new gun laws including the reinstatement of the 1994 “assault weapons” and magazine ban. Andrew Selee, Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute echoed the call for more gun laws.
Fortunately, Arizona State Senator Jonathon Paton (R-AZ) also testified but noted that new gun laws were not the answer. Paton correctly stated that securing our borders, increased local federal cooperation and enforcing our existing gun laws is the right approach. NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox also provided written testimony to the subcommittee that you can read here.
But don’t count on the gun ban crowd to get that message. They see an opportunity to use fear created by the violence in Mexico to advance their domestic anti-gun agenda.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Crime and Drugs subcommittee and the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control have already set a hearing for next Tuesday, March 17. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) is expected to use that forum to blame American gun owners and American gun laws for the violence in Mexico. Her solution, once again, will almost certainly be to restrict the rights of law-abiding Americans. We can once again expect Senator “Mr. and Mrs. American, turn them in” to call for a new gun ban. And on March 25, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on U.S.—Mexico Border Violence.
Gun owners know that restricting our rights will not stop Mexican drug lords from arming themselves. More U.S. gun laws will not stop these mass murderers who are already armed with military hardware such as grenades, anti-tank missiles, and mortars–weapons that are certainly not generally available to American gun buyers.
Just as they have so many times before, the gun ban crowd is blaming criminal violence—this time in a foreign country—on American gun owners. If we are to prevail and stop them from dismantling our rights, we have to be vigilant. NRA will continue to monitor these hearings and report to you on their content.
To read additional testimony and opening remarks from the House subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs hearing, please use the following links:
http://nationalsecurity.oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2343
Click to access MemobytheMajorityStaff.pdf
Click to access OpeningStmntJeffFlake.pdf
Click to access TestimonyMichaelABraun.pdf
Copyright 2009, National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action.
This may be reproduced. It may not be reproduced for commercial purposes.
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March 14, 2009 at 10:40
[…] opposed him, the long-term political implications of the Freeman affair appear far more ambiguous Homeland Security plans for violence – patricksperry.wordpress.com 03/14/2009 So you thought that the uproar over Americans having their […]
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