Capper Caper?
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The old Silicon Valley adage goes “If it ain’t broke, break it.”
We may be witnessing a branch of the federal government creating crime where it virtually did not exist, all for political reasons. In the past year several politicians and a Mexican president complained that American civilian firearms were being used by drug cartels. A U.S. senator falsely claimed that 90% of drug cartel cannons in Mexico came from American gun stores. All these insidious insults to intelligence have been publicly flayed and The People, recognizing the political hokum, went back to watching American Idol.
So it appears that perhaps the U.S. government is cooking up crime in order to substantiate the lack thereof.
Granted, this borders on a conspiracy theory, but given the inglorious past of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), it is not outside the realm of the possible. Condensed for your convenience are some recent events:
- The BATF announces that a sting operation they ran busted straw buyers in the U.S. who sent store-bought guns to Mexico
- They note that they only believe the guns were heading for drug cartels
- They operated the sting with apparent cooperation of gun stores
- They later admit to allowing some of those guns to enter Mexico, allegedly so they could trace the path of the arms shipment, which is against BATF policy (and an affront to the Mexican government)
During the Dark Ages (the Carter administration) the BATF had a horrible reputation for running roughshod over the rights of honest gun store owners. Their various harassment techniques, destruction of inventory and other lapses of integrity caused Congress, in a rare show of lucidity, to rein-in the obstreperous agency. Even with Congress Critters showing more active oversight, the BATF occasionally overstepped their bounds.
Bending the rules and the law has been their organizational brand.
It thus raises suspicions that the highly convenient timing the sting, BATF oversight of, and requisite slippage of arms into Mexico might be orchestrated. That perhaps a gun control oriented administration (Obama ala Carter) might employ the BATF to arrange an instance of arms smuggling for the political leverage. We have to keep in mind that the BATF:
- Staged the sting, which includes making sure somebody bought guns
- Had the cooperation of gun stores
- Allowed guns to cross the border
In the absence of an orchestrated sting, there stands a very good change the strawmen purchases might never have happened. Gun store owners in general have a solid record of refusing to sell to known or even suspect buyers. The 700 intercepted guns of which the BATF crowed were sold to strawmen due to BATF insistence. In other words, the actual smuggling rate might have been zero without the BATF’s push.
If this was a manufactured crime, then allowing guns to go over the Rio Grande was an essential element of the plan. Demonstrating law enforcement diligence and preventing guns from entering Mexico eliminates the international aspect of the incident and makes Senate passage of Latin American inspired multi-national gun control impossible. But having a media-ready example of cross-border gun interdiction gives sinister senate inmates (Dianne Feinstein by name) necessary talking points during ratification debates.
In the absence of hard proof, this scheme is merely speculative. But given the actors, it is not inconceivable. As a board member, Barack Obama channeled money through the Joyce Foundation to America’s most deceptive gun control groups. He later nominated a Chicago-debased BATF agent, who openly collaborated with anti-gun groups, to head the now suspect organization. Finally, given their cardinal sins of the past, the BATF would be the most pliable agency for conducting such a charade.
To some, winning is everything and rules don’t count. Such is the current and temporary administration.
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