U.S. Guns Used In Mexico To Kill Border Patrolman

Guns purchased in Arizona and illegally smuggled into Mexico were among those used to kill a Border Patrol agent in that state in December. This information came as part of a congressional investigation into a lack of action on the part of the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives to control this type of gun smuggling. Simultaneously, the ATF is trying to convince Congress not to cut its funding so it can continue to monitor U.S. arms smuggling to Mexico. Go figure.

The Los Angeles Times reports that two AK-47s from the U.S. that made their way to Mexico illegally were being tracked by the ATF and were found at the scene of a gun fight that ended in the death of Brian Terry outside Nogales, Arizona. The report continues:

…the agency has been aware of the purchase of assault weapons in the U.S. by buyers suspected of selling across the border, but failed to adequately track them…whistleblowers have complained that Project Gunrunner has focused on gathering intelligence on suspicious weapons sales, but has put less attention on actually stopping those weapons from moving south. Some also have complained that Mexican authorities had been dangerously kept out of the loop.

The short version is that what goes around comes around. You cannot simply allow, or leave uncontrolled, the blatant smuggling of arms to Mexico and then act surprised when those guns are used by bad people to do bad things in the U.S. Unless gun laws are addressed, or the way guns are purchased is changed, you can expect to see more violence perpetrated against people in the U.S. with guns illegally transported to Mexico.

UPDATE: The agent was killed outside Nogales, Ariz.