Arizona Sheriff Says 2 Guns Found in Bust Linked to 'Fast and Furious'

[spin]

Arizona Sheriff Says 2 Guns Found in Bust Linked to 'Fast and Furious'
Published November 01, 2011


Nov. 1, 2011: Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, left, and Chief Deputy Steve Henry discuss the Arizona arrest of a member of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel at a news conference in Florence, Ariz. Babeu says that the man was caught Monday, two weeks after he was deported as part of a larger investigation into the cartel.

FLORENCE, Ariz. – An Arizona sheriff says that two guns seized as part of a major drug smuggling bust have been connected to a botched federal investigation known as "Fast and Furious."

"Fast and Furious" was a controversial Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' investigation that lost track of up to 1,400 weapons that were sold in Arizona gun stores to suspected straw buyers for Mexican drug gangs.

A number of guns have been recovered at crime scenes in Mexico and two were found at the scene of a Border Patrol agent's death.

Now Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu says two more "Fast and Furious" guns have been seized in Arizona from members of the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's most powerful.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/01/arizona-sheriff-says-2-guns-found-in-bust-linked-to-fast-and-furious/#ixzz1cZKUOltR

The "Fast and Furious" firearms didn't just walk to Mexico. They also are ending up on our streets.

And the news media rarely mentioned the possible death toll of these weapons in Mexico. Usually only the death of one of our Border Patrol agents, Brian Terry, is mentioned.

Mexico still waiting for answers on Fast and Furious gun program
Top Mexican officials say the U.S. kept them in the dark. One official was stunned to learn that the cartel hit men who killed her brother had assault rifles from Fast and Furious in their arsenal.
By Ken Ellingwood, Richard A. Serrano and Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times

September 19, 2011, 5:00 p.m.



Marisela Morales, Mexico's attorney general, told The Times that she first learned about Fast and Furious from news reports. And to this day, she said, U.S. officials have not briefed her on the operation gone awry, nor have they apologized. (Jorge Dan Lopez / Reuters / June 7, 2011)

Reporting from Mexico City and Washington—
Last fall's slaying of Mario Gonzalez, the brother of a Mexican state prosecutor, shocked people on both sides of the border. Sensational news reports revealed that cartel hit men had tortured Gonzalez, and forced him to make a videotaped "confession" that his high-powered sister was on the take.

But American authorities concealed one disturbing fact about the case from their Mexican counterparts: U.S. federal agents had allowed AK-47 assault rifles later found in the killers' arsenal to be smuggled across the border under the notorious Fast and Furious gun-trafficking program.

U.S. officials also kept mum as other weapons linked to Fast and Furious turned up at dozens of additional Mexican crime scenes, with an unconfirmed toll of at least 150 people killed or wounded.

***snip***

The basic ineptitude of these officials caused the death of my brother and surely thousands more victims," Gonzalez said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-fast-furious-20110920,0,5544168.story

[Hoopla Phil]

1. k and r

[friendly_iconoclast]

2. I guess this would be one of those "mistakes" that DiFi was talking about:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x475860

[spin]

3. Comments like hers hurt the Democratic Party ...

And will be used by the Republicans in many areas of the nation to help elect their candidates.

People in the area she represents may believe that her statement, "And the problem is anybody can walk in and buy anything - .50 caliber weapons, sniper weapons - buy them in large amounts" is accurate and true. However people in the areas of the nation where firearms are common will see not only that her statement is false but that she has a strong agenda and wants to pass legislation that would greatly prohibit or even ban the sales of those weapons she dislikes. Gun owners in those more gun friendly areas will be extremely hesitant to vote for a Democratic candidate. If the economy doesn't improve by election time, there is no doubt that Obama faces an uphill battle if the Republicans can manage to come up with an even half way credible candidate. But even if he does win, we need to gain seats in both houses of Congress and not lose more because our party is seen by 80,000,000 gun owners as opposed to the ownership of firearms.

I can only wonder where why she is not outraged that despite all the efforts expended by Democrats to pass the NICS background check system, government agencies decided to bypass this very important law and allow convicted felons to purchase firearms. (Ref: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/25/feds-refuse-to-explain-why-proper-background-checks-werent-conducted-on-fast/)

How will she feel if one of these weapons ends up in California and is involved in the murder of one of the citizens she represents? Will she continue to blame the law for allowing gun smugglers to buy weapons when it was a total failure to enforce the law that led to the tragedy?