You probably didn’t see the story this summer of 11 family members who were slayed in their home by an alleged rapist seeking revenge against the victim whose complaint had incarcerated him. Among the victims were two girls eight and nine years old as well as a pregnant woman. The family members were each shot multiple times and slashed, and it appeared the suspects attempted to decapitate one of them.
Why didn’t you see this story? The cold-blooded murders occurred in hamlet of San Jose El Mirador, Coxcatlan, in the central state of Puebla, Mexico. It is located a little southeast of the capital, Mexico City.
Why do we care about what happens in another country? Other than the horrible loss of human life at the hands of despicable, sub-human individuals, it’s a precautionary tale for the rest of the world.
When the United States government and gun control activists compare “gun violence” rates, they pick and choose the countries they include so as to make the US look worse in comparison. They call this exclusive list the “advanced” or “industrialized” countries. Our neighbor to the south is not on this list. For reference, when looking at worldwide violent death rates, Mexico ranks 15th and the United States ranks 85th out of 172 nations.
Apparently Mexico, who continues to capture more and more of the United States’ manufacturing in automotive, both in components and assembled vehicles, machinery, medical and electronic equipment, plastics, iron and steel products, isn’t advanced or industrialized enough to be part of the comparison. In reality, it’s because Mexico’s gun control environment is a textbook case of failure.
Mexico does recognize the right to keep and bear arms as a constitutional right under Article 10 of the Mexican Constitution of 1857. However, numerous revisions throughout its history have restricted this right nearly out of existence. Openly carrying a firearm or carrying a concealed firearm is virtually forbidden to private citizens unless authorized by Secretariat of National Defense. Personal protection firearms, up to nine long guns and one handgun, are only permitted in the residence, only when registered by the federal government and only of the type and caliber permitted by law. Separate special permits must be obtained to have a firearm in a place of business and to transport it between locations.
Is this beginning to sound familiar?
There is one and ONLY ONE place to legally purchase firearms and ammunition in Mexico. It is the Directorate of Arms and Munitions Sales operated by the Mexican military on a secure base in Mexico City. As a result of the extraordinarily tight gun control laws for legal possession, very few Mexican citizens are able to obtain the permits or travel to this one legal store to purchase them.
Of course this has had no impact on the criminal possession of firearms. Smuggled into the country, the black market trade in firearms creates an abundant illicit supply. While the United States is often blamed for the proliferation of illegal firearms, including those allowed to come in from our own government, they come from every corner of the world and include such items as rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and full automatic rifles and pistols. Despite the rhetoric, these are not items you can pick up at any local shop in Phoenix.
Following the United States narrative for ever restrictive gun control measures, in August 2016 at the Second Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty of the United Nations, the Foreign Minister of Mexico called on the US to implement a new “assault weapons” ban. She blamed Mexico’s rampant gun crime on the lax US laws citing the absence of a ban on “assault weapons”. She even parroted the US government myth that in the US it is “as easy to get guns as it is to get a liter of milk or a box of cereal.”
Disarming the law-abiding citizen is never, ever going to disarm the criminals. Its only effect is to transform the people into a population of victims. No matter how big or how well armed the government is, it will never be able to prevent the violence or reduce the death toll caused by disarming the people.
While you think about the ongoing deterioration of your own Second Amendment rights, take a moment to think about the victims around the world who are not able to defend themselves and are not among those as being important enough to protect themselves.
Bob
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