U.S. urged dealer to continue gun sales despite concerns, inquiry finds

The Arizona gun dealer repeatedly raised red flags about weapons ending up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels as part of Project Gunrunner, but his concerns were brushed aside, congressional investigators say.

I’ve been following this issue for three years now and the one thing that sticks out to me is the denial by the NRA and gun groups that the cartels are getting their weapons from American gun dealers through the use of “straw buyers.” I’ve been reviled for even suggesting it in my columns. I’ve got comments to the effect that, “Most of the cartels guns are coming from mass shipments from Russia and Third World counties.” I’ve never seen any evidence of that contention.

What I do see is the NRA continuing to fight any efforts to curtail gun sales. As long as the NRA has Congress in it’s big pockets we’re going to continue to see American border agents murdered, and innocent American citizens on our southern borders will not be safe.

PHOTO - A U.S. Border Patrol agent passes photos of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry during a memorial service in Tucson. Two guns involved in the Gunrunner operation were found at the scene of a shootout in southern Arizona in December in which Terry was killed. (John Moore / AFP/Getty Images / January 21, 2011)

Excerpt:

“The investigation into a federal operation that allowed Mexican drug cartels to acquire U.S. weapons escalated Thursday with new revelations that an Arizona gun dealer repeatedly expressed fears that his guns were falling into the "hands of the bad guys" but was encouraged by federal agents to continue the sales.

Employees of the dealer videotaped gun buyers — suspected "straw purchasers" who could legally buy the guns, though cartel members could not — exchanging money with other individuals on the dealer's premises.
The aim of the ATF program, called Project Gunrunner, was to gather intelligence on suspicious weapons sales and arrest senior members of international trafficking chains.
In an eerie case of premonition, the gun dealer expressed fears that the guns he was selling could be used against U.S. border agents.” Full Story

Related:

Assault rifle used in U.S. agent's killing in Mexico traced to Texas - U.S. authorities say one of three men they arrested this week purchased an AK-47 at a Texas gun shop that was used in the attack last month that killed a U.S. federal agent and wounded his partner.

U.S. gun-tracing operation let firearms into criminal hands - A federal operation aimed at tracing weapons to Mexican drug cartels lost track of hundreds, including two guns found at the scene of a Border Patrol agent's killing in Arizona.

Key figure in ATF's Gunrunner operation cooperating in congressional inquiry - George Gillett Jr. is expected to reveal crucial information about how a federal operation allowed weapons from the U.S. to pass into the hands of Mexican drug gangs.