by Roy Exum
The Chattanoogan

There are 110 million people and 742,485 square miles in the country of Mexico, but there is only one little store in all the land that sells guns. That two-room store, called “Directorate for Arms and Munitions Sales,” is located in the largest city in the world—Mexico City. It is operated and heavily guarded by the army.

For a Mexican citizen to legally buy a gun involves a long, drawn-out process and, if you want any gun bigger than a .22-caliber, it is expressly forbidden. Mexico has arguably the toughest gun control laws in the world.

Since the beginning of 2008, over 7,000 Mexicans have been killed in the exploding drug wars. How do you think the gun ban is working out for them south of the border?

The powerful drug cartels in Mexico have made a mockery of any gun control laws and, as is so sadly the growing theme, it is the United States’ fault because the outlaws come across the 2,000-mile border and pay cash for any kind of guns they want to buy. Then they sneak these weapons back into the terror-ravaged country and, to hear President Felipe Calderon talk, you would think we had something to do with it.

The United States enjoys some spectacular freedoms, but now the Obama administration, along with a growing list of misguided senators, wants to curtail the trail of guns to Mexico in the ridiculous belief the drug cartels will quit shooting people. And—what—start throwing rocks?

I have long held the belief a gun never killed anyone and a gun never spent the night in jail. A gun is a tool and, in the hands of a criminal, becomes an extension of that person. Thusly, you must deal with the person, not his weapon. Mexico is today the best example in the world of the old expression, “When guns are outlawed, outlaws will have guns.”

If you will take 15 minutes to do simple research, you’ll learn that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senators like John Kerry who are now crying for bans on some guns, are every bit as terribly misinformed as the government of Mexico. Let’s face it; the problem isn’t the weapons they use but rather what they use them for—to supply an insatiable drug trade.

If the United States bans certain semi-automatic weapons, do you seriously believe the drug cartels will quit using automatic weapons? If you are that hopeless, the drugs you are taking aren’t working and it is time to go back to regular cigarettes. Oh my goodness.

Last November one of the cartel’s most prominent henchmen, Jamie “el Hummer” Gonzales Duran, was captured near the Texas border. Then guess what happened? As “el Hummer” was being taken to jail, the cartel’s thugs attacked the Mexican “federales” to spring their leader, but this time the cops won.

When the smoke had cleared, the police confiscated 540 assault rifles, more than half-a-million bullets, 150 grenades, 14 cartridges of dynamite, 98 fragmentation grenades, 67 bullet-proof vests, seven .50-caliber sniper rifles and a light anti-tank (LAW) rocket. All of this was just in “el Hummer’s” stack.

Have you ever tried to buy a rocket-propelled grenade? They don’t sell them at gun shows or anywhere else civil people go. There is evidence the cartels are now getting “cuerrnos de chivo”—which is Spanish for goat horns—from anywhere in the world they wish to buy them. “Goat horn” is the nickname of a 30-round banana clip that fits in an AK-47.

Even if we could stifle every firearm that is smuggled across the vast Mexican-United States border, the cartels would still have all the assault weapons they ever wanted. Oh, they may pay a little more for them, but—honestly—a guy named Joaquin “El Chappo” Guzman Loera was just named to Forbes Magazine’s list of billionaires and he can get anything he wants.

“El Chappo” heads the Sinoloa cartel and, while his nickname means “Shorty,” he’s long in the pocket. He is a fugitive, of course, but he’s done real well getting cocaine across the US border. My deal is that anyone who is in a fret over the guns should instead be worried much more about the cocaine. Let’s go after “Shorty,” not his pistol.

Another thing; you don’t think Shorty’s above calling the Taliban or Hezbollah and offering a bunch of cash for exotic weaponry we see in Iraq and Afghanistan? Listen, if the cartels were paying Major Arturo Gonzales Rodriquez over $100,000 a month for his assistance before the Army officer was arrested in November, what do you think they would pay for a bunch of those anti-tank rockets?

True, about 90% of the confiscated weapons can be traced to the United States, but that’s only because we are the closest “convenience store.” There is also some concern we are given the blame because Uncle Sam is such a push-over for “monetary reparations.”

C’mon, the guns are a sideshow, to paraphrase a popular senator, because we are doing a lousy job of stopping the illicit drugs flowing from Mexico into our country. So maybe by focusing on the firearms that go out of it, we can find a victory somewhere. Such a “head in the sand” thought process is nuts.

In a confidential memo obtained by ABC News last week, we learn that President Barack Obama has already been told Mexico could easily become “the next Iraq or Afghanistan.” The assessment warned, “We have a criminal insurgency by organized crime that may well be a precursor to civil anarchy in part or all of Mexico.”

So let’s address the real problem, not the sideshow. The problem is organized crime. It’s armed to the teeth, very sophisticated and allegedly has an “army” of its own that today numbers over 100,000. Further, it is made up mostly of deserters from Mexico’s army.

Mexico, which has forever been begging money (and getting) from Washington, simply can’t handle its problem so we, with the quickness of a knee-jerk, are now sending down over a billion dollars to “help.”

If a billion dollars seems like a lot, how does this work for you; last year the cartels did an estimated $39 billion in drug business in the United States. This, at the same time, all the Mexican immigrants combined in our country sent $25 billion back home to “mama.” Do you see what I’m thinking? Stopping gun sales ain’t gonna’ make guys like “El Chappo” or “el Hummer” even blink.

You don’t kill a snake by cutting off its tail. Any country boy will tell you the trick to snake-killing is being quick or that serpent will bite you. Brother, you play around in the fire long enough and it’s a cinch you’ll “get burnt.”

Since we’ve been dallying around for so long, there is solid proof the Mexican cartels are talking about using their “deep pockets” to infiltrate street gangs in many of the USA’s biggest cities. You think some of those banditos might get a bang out of gunny sack of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)?

One last point; if we cut off the gun supply at the nearest “convenience store,” do you think that maybe some Middle East maniacs like the Taliban or those Hezbollah boys would be interested in driving all the rocket launchers you could stick in a big truck up from the south, through either Guatemala or Belize, where border checkpoints are almost nonexistent?

How would you like to have a bunch of Taliban crazies drinking tequila late every night right across the Rio Grande with their newest friends who are also our next door neighbors?