latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-guns-20110312,0,3373480.story

latimes.com

Mexico says U.S. never told it tracked guns were passing border

By Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times
4:23 PM PST, March 11, 2011
Reporting from Mexico City --

Mexican authorities say they were aware of the U.S. anti-gun operation that allowed smugglers to buy weapons under the watch of agents in the United States, but that they had no idea that the program allowed weapons to be smuggled into Mexico.

In a statement issued late Thursday, Mexico's federal attorney general's office said Mexican officials were advised of operations north of the border against suspected traffickers. But the Mexican agency said it "had no knowledge of the existence of an operation that might include the transgression or controlled trafficking of arms to Mexican territory."

The attorney general's statement said Mexico would never have given permission for weapons to enter the country as part of Operation Fast and Furious, under which U.S. agents permitted the purchase of weapons to build more sweeping criminal cases against crime bosses.

"The government of Mexico has not given nor will it give its authorization, tacit or express, under any circumstance, for that to occur," the agency said in the most extensive comments the government has offered on the matter so far.

A statement issued by the U.S. Embassy here Thursday said American officials had kept Mexican counterparts informed "as plans unfolded on operations in the United States" through Jan. 25, when 20 suspected weapons traffickers were arrested in Arizona. On Friday, the embassy said there was "no contradiction" between the Mexican statement and information provided by American officials.

The 15-month operation, carried out by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, became public after guns sold to suspected smugglers in the U.S. turned up at the scene of the fatal shooting in December of a Customs and Border Protection agent, Brian Terry.

Some ATF agents were already alarmed as evidence mounted of weapons making their way into the hands of drug cartels in Mexico.

At least 195 weapons sold in Arizona have been recovered in Mexico, and one ranking Mexican congressman claims the smuggled guns have been tied to the injuries or deaths of as many as 150 people.

Angry Mexican politicians from across the spectrum have blasted the U.S. effort as a violation of their country's sovereignty. Lawmakers have called for investigations and hearings into whether Mexican officials were aware of the program.

The Mexican statement praised U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. for launching an investigation into the operation. Holder said that "letting guns walk … is not something that is acceptable."

But in the United States, there are concerns about Holder's decision to delegate to the Justice Department's inspector general responsibility for conducting the probe, already underway. One of the key ATF whistle-blowers to have complained about the gun-running operation was ignored when he originally sought the inspector general's intervention.

In a letter this week to the integrity committee of the Council of Inspectors General, U.S. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who is probing the Fast and Furious operation as the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the Justice Department's own role in supervising the operation must also be part of the investigation.

"Given that the [inspector general's office] initially failed to follow up, it might have an incentive to minimize the significance of the allegations in order to avoid the appearance that its own inaction contributed to the problem in the last few months," Grassley wrote.

ken.ellingwood@latimes.com

Times staff writer Kim Murphy in Seattle contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-guns-20110312,0,3724270,print.story

Feds arrest NM mayor, police chief, and others for gun running

Dr. Michael Williams

March 11, 2011

 

Albuquerque, NM) According to documents filed in U.S. District Court Thursday, Columbus, New Mexico Mayor Eddie Espinoza, Police Chief Angelo Vega, and Trustee Blas Gutierrez were among nearly a dozen suspects including a Mexican national charged with being part of an effort to smuggle weapons, ammunition, and body armor into Mexico.

The suspects, arrested by Federal, State, and local authorities, were charged after an extensive investigation involving officials on both sides of the border.  One suspect, 24-year-old Ignacio Villalobos, escaped arrest and is still at large.

The arrest comes after a long term investigation going back many months, which included an incident last October when Mayor Espinoza tried to block federal agents with his car while he called Chief Vega to come and question the agents.

Also arrested was gun shop owner, Ian Garland, who is accused of selling the guns to other suspects who claimed they were buying them for themselves. The guns were in fact purchased by the suspects on behalf of others in Mexico. About a dozen of the weapons were later discovered in Mexico. The weapons were AK 47 type and 9 mm purchased going back to January 2010.

The arrests come on the heels of recent reports of Mexican officials demanding answers about weapons being tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms that were responsible for the deaths of nearly 150 Mexicans.  The weapons were part of a tracking program, Operation Fast and Furious, of weapons sold in Arizona and tracked into Mexico where they were recovered during crime scene investigations.

One of the weapons involved in the operation was suspected to have been used in the killing of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata in February. The weapon was allegedly being tracked by the BATF after being purchased by the suspects in October. In November the suspects being tracked who purchased the weapon were stopped by local police, but not arrested.

The has led to congressional inquiries as to why the BATF was allowing the smugglers being tracked to continue to smuggle weapons, which were being used in the killings, which possibly included Agent Zapata.

The case illustrates how officials entrusted with the security of the public can be enticed by lucrative incentives to run an inside job to betray that trust.


http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-national/feds-arrest-nm-mayor-police-chief-and-others-for-gun-running#ixzz1GHjWxGqF

ATF's tactics to end gun trafficking face a federal review
By James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 10, 2011; A04

 
A controversy over tactics used to break up an extensive Mexican gunrunning ring has prompted federal officials to reevaluate an aggressive law enforcement strategy to stop firearms trafficking.

The new scrutiny comes after two separate shootings in the past three months in which federal agents were killed and guns recovered by investigators were later traced back to people already under investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee has charged that ATF agents allowed hundreds of firearms to flow from gun stores in the United States to criminals in Mexico and elsewhere in order to build cases against more prominent gun traffickers.

In one of those cases, ATF agents in Phoenix were divided over when to conclude the investigation and arrest suspected traffickers. Some of those agents took their misgivings to Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) after two AK-47s traced back to a U.S. gun store were recovered near the site of an agent's killing.

The controversy highlights the difficulty ATF agents face in complex cases against increasingly sophisticated gunrunning rings. Many gunrunning cases end with little more than paperwork violations against buyers who procure guns for others. Such "straw purchaser" cases rarely amount to more than charges of lying on federal documents.

"There is no gun-trafficking statute," said James Cavanaugh, a retired ATF supervisor.

 "We've been yelling for years that we need a gun-trafficking statute, because these cases are so difficult to prove."

This means that agents who want to make bigger cases must sometimes watch guns travel to criminals who use them in more serious crimes, such as drug trafficking.

"Asking cooperating gun dealers to arm cartels and bandits without control of the weapons or knowledge of their whereabouts is an extremely risky strategy," Grassley said.

The Justice Department has denied that the case unfolded the way Grassley asserts, but ATF agents have acknowledged using aggressive tactics in an attempt to break up high-level rings connected to Mexican drug cartels.

The undercover operation's goal, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich said in a letter to Grassley, was "to dismantle the entire trafficking organization, not merely to arrest straw purchasers."

Weich added: "The allegation - that ATF 'sanctioned' or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser who then transported them into Mexico - is false."

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) have asked for a review by the Justice Department's inspector general, which last year criticized the ATF for failing to pursue high-level trafficking cases.

Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson has asked "a multi-disciplinary panel of law enforcement professionals to review the bureau's current firearms trafficking strategies," the ATF said.

Known within the multi-agency federal task force as Operation Fast and Furious, the undercover investigation culminated in January with 34 people being charged in a 53-count indictment that included drug-smuggling and money-laundering allegations. When the Justice Department announced the arrests in January, it revealed that hundreds of firearms had been traced to crimes, including 195 weapons that were seized by authorities in Mexico.

Grassley's examination revealed sharp disagreement within the ATF field office. "ATF leadership did not allow agents to interdict the weapons in this case," Grassley said.

Stemming the flow of firearms to Mexico, where most gun ownership is outlawed, has been a priority of the Obama administration. "We are trying to work our way through more effective mechanisms to prevent straw purchasers from buying caches of weapons [and] transporting them across the border," Obama said last week in a news conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

But the administration was dealt a setback last month when the House voted to block an ATF plan to track bulk sales of assault weapons along the border.

The controversy came to Grassley's attention after border agent Brian Terry, 40, was gunned down in December while patrolling the border. Two assault rifles on an ATF watch list as part of Fast and Furious were found nearby, but both have been ruled out as the murder weapon, officials said.

The frustrations of agents began appearing anonymously on Web sites. Anti-ATF bloggers sympathetic to the militia movement picked up the allegations late last year, dubbing the scandal "Project Gunwalker" and alleging that ATF agents let guns "walk" to boost the numbers of U.S. weapons recovered in Mexico. The bloggers theorized that the ATF wanted high numbers to gain support for an assault-weapons ban.

Defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin said the controversy has had an impact on the criminal investigation into one of his clients, Carter's Country, a Houston area chain that had sold assault weapons to a gun-trafficking ring. DeGuerin said that Carter's Country was told by the ATF to go ahead with sales of assault weapons and then report the serial numbers later to the ATF. Last week, a prosecutor called DeGuerin to say the investigation was being dropped.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/09/AR2011030905584.html

March 8, 2011

Documents point to ATF "gun running" since 2008

Undercover ATF photo shows display of high-powered weapons put out for suspected Mexican drug cartel gun buyers

By Sharyl Attkisson
(CBS News) 
A controversial operation in which U.S. agents were allegedly ordered not to intervene as American guns flowed to Mexican gangs may have been going on for many years, reports CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.


Gunrunning scandal at the ATF

A photograph obtained by CBS News shows an astonishing display of high-powered weapons put up for suspected Mexican drug cartel gun buyers. It's a rare glimpse into ATF's controversial undercover operations.


The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allegedly let gun runners walk off with weapons - thousands of them - to see if they'd end up in the hands of the cartels. The Justice Department and ATF have denied it ever happened.


Special Agent John Dodson works in ATF's Phoenix office and has blown the whistle on the controversial strategy, known as letting guns "walk."


Agent: I was ordered to let U.S. guns into Mexico

Dodson  believes there are other ATF operations going on that have done the same thing.


Multiple sources now tell CBS News the questionable tactics were used in more than one operation, and date back as far as 2008 in the Tucson area. One case was called "Wide Receiver."


AK47s vs. bean bags in border drug war

Sources tell CBS News licensed gun dealers often wanted no part of selling to suspicious characters who could be supplying the cartels.


But, sources say, ATF enlisted the gun dealers as paid Confidential Informants and encouraged them to sell even more.


"ATF has asked me to assist in an official investigation," reads one agreement.

Gun salesmen closed the deals, and ATF watched and listened with recording devices.


"ATF Special Agents conducted surveillance...and identified the dates and times that the conspirators... crossed the international border," says one court document.

Dodson argues that something that should never be done. "A lot people are going to get hurt with those firearms between the time we let them go and the time they're recovered again in a crime."


Sources tell CBS News these ATF operations involved about 450 weapons. Despite the risk, two years later the same strategy was expanded to include thousands of guns.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/08/eveningnews/main20040803.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Gun rights battle hits Illinois this week

Kurt Erickson | Posted: Tuesday, March 8, 2011 2:00 am

SPRINGFIELD — Gun rights supporters think they have momentum on their side this year to allow Illinoisans to carry concealed weapons.

Opponents, however, say not enough has changed in the ongoing stalemate to signal any significant changes on the horizon.

That doesn’t mean the battle over gun rights isn’t going to heat up in the coming days.
Today, a House panel stocked with a number of downstate gun rights backers is expected to once again approve legislation that would make Illinois the 49th state to allow citizens with special training to carry guns in public.

On Thursday, thousands of gun activists are scheduled to descend on the Statehouse for an annual rally organized by the Illinois State Rifle Association.

Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, said a combination of legal and political changes in the past year have pushed concealed carry legislation to the forefront.

“I’ve never had the groundswell or the grassroots effort that this bill is getting and attention that it’s getting right now,” Phelps said.

Opponents say there is still scant support among Chicago-area lawmakers for allowing concealed carry — meaning the issue may remain unresolved for at least another year.
Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, says downstate lawmakers should spend some time in Chicago to see the differences between a congested metropolitan area and a more rural downstate area.

“It’s a different atmosphere that we live in. People live in fear constantly about guns. We do not want to start the wild, wild West up by us,” Link said.

Despite that stance, gun rights supporters were energized by last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that tossed out Chicago’s controversial ban on handguns. In addition, the 2010 election saw gubernatorial candidate Republican Bill Brady winning throughout much of downstate.

Wisconsin — Illinois’ lone counterpart in banning concealed carry — also is considering legalizing the carrying of weapons in public.

“If Wisconsin passes concealed carry, Illinois will be the only state that does not allow any concealed carry permit process whatsoever. We’ll be the last state,” Phelps said.
After holding their noses and voting for an income tax hike in January, many downstate lawmakers who support concealed carry say they want something in return from Democrats and Gov. Pat Quinn.

Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, said downstate lawmakers have asked Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, to call the measure for a vote.

“I think there is enough broad-based support to get the bill to the floor,” Jacobs said.

“The people of this state deserve to have the rights of what people in almost every other state have.”

Downstate Republican lawmakers also say there is momentum this year for a vote.

“I think more and more people think there is an opportunity for concealed carry to be voted on this year,” said Sen. John Jones, R-Mount Vernon.

That message will be repeated throughout the Capitol on Thursday when gun owners rally in Springfield. Buses are departing from the Quad-Cities, Marion, Mount Vernon, Chenoa, Chester, Bloomington-Normal, Chicago and Danville.

Among the bills they will be talking about is Senate Bill 82, which is being sponsored by Republicans and Democrats, including Sens. Gary Forby, D-Benton; Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon; Jones; Shane Cultra, R-Onarga; and Dale Righter, R-Mattoon.

Even if a concealed carry bill were to somehow make it through the Democrat-controlled legislature, Quinn remains a major obstacle.

“Our big problem is that Governor Quinn has repeatedly said he would veto it,” Jones said.

“The governor is fond of saying the will of the people should be the law of the land,” Jacobs said. “He should abide by that.”

Link said both sides of the fight need to just agree to disagree.

“I have never had an objection to anyone having a legitimate gun,” Link said. “But, when we see someone with a gun in my area, we know they’re not duck hunting.”

http://qctimes.com/news/local/article_bc350dd4-493d-11e0-a15e-001cc4c03286.html

Mexico queries US gun smuggling operation

6 March 2011 Last updated at 19:46 ET

Mexico has asked the US for detailed information on a law enforcement operation that allegedly allowed guns to be smuggled across the border.

The request follows media reports that US federal agents allowed hundreds of guns to be smuggled into Mexico in the hope of tracking the weapons to drug cartel leaders.
Some of the guns were reportedly later used in crimes including murder.

US Attorney General Eric Holder has already ordered an inquiry.

The Mexican request comes days after US President Barack Obama and his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon agreed to step up cooperation against guns and drugs trafficking.

'Shared responsibility'

The tracking operation, codenamed Fast and Furious, was conducted by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), according to CBS and the Los Angeles Times.

The ATF reportedly allowed 1,765 guns to be smuggled into Mexico over a 15 month period, including assault weapons and high-powered sniper rifles.

Of those guns, 797 were recovered on both sides of the border.

Many are thought to have been used in crimes, including two that were recovered at the scene of the killing of a US border protection agent in Arizona.

The ATF allowed the operation to continue despite objections from some agents involved, the LA Times reported.

The BBC's Andrew North in Washington says the operation was kept secret from the Mexican government.
In a statement, the Mexican foreign ministry said it would follow US Justice Department and ATF investigations into the operation with "special interest".

"The aim of the governments of Mexico and the US is to stop the trafficking of arms on the basis of shared responsibility, and both sides are working to strengthen bilateral cooperation on this issue," it said.

Mexico has long pressed the US authorities to do more to stop weapons smuggling across the border.

Nearly 35,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since December 2006, and many of the killings have been carried out with guns smuggled in from the US.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12660732

House 'Gun Day' Highlights Stalemate in Assembly

Simmons: Chances of major gun legislation are slim.

By David Saleh Rauf

Capital News Service
ANNAPOLIS - When the House Judiciary Committee meets this week, just days after it finished wrestling with a contentious same-sex marriage proposal, lawmakers will be greeted by another lighting rod issue: Guns.

Tuesday is the House committee's annual "gun day," when hundreds of Second Amendment and gun control advocates clash over bills intended to shape how Marylanders purchase, carry and use firearms. This year, a dozen gun bills are on the schedule, including a pair backed by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).

But if recent history is any indicator, the vast majority of firearm proposals debated in the House committee Tuesday are poised to fail. It's the product of what advocates and lawmakers on both sides of the issue have described as the General Assembly's long-running stalemate when it comes to guns.

The last time the legislature approved a sweeping gun-control bill was in 2000. Under then-Gov. Parris Glendening, a Democrat, the state passed landmark legislation that put in place a system for ballistic fingerprinting and required built-in child safety locks for handguns.

Since then, lawmakers have been largely reluctant to loosen or tighten gun restrictions.

"We are chicken," said Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Dist. 18) of Chevy Chase, a Montgomery Democrat whose bill limiting the size of ammunition clips to hold no more than 10 rounds will be heard Tuesday. "We're not taking the issue as serious as it warrants."

The general approach over the last couple of years has been one of maintaining the status quo on the issue of guns, said Del. Luiz Simmons, an influential member of the House Judiciary Committee. It's an agenda, Simmons said, that's set by the state's highest levels of leadership—from the governor to the House speaker and Senate president.

"The approach has been we're going to do nothing unless forced by some horrific incident that exposes a real flaw in the law." said Simmons (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville.
As a result, the chances of a major piece of gun legislation passing this session are slim, he said.

Maryland has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. That has allowed some lawmakers to skirt the issue, said Lisa Miller Delity, a board member of the gun-control group CeaseFire Maryland.

Under Glendening, who served from 1995 to 2003, gun bills were a "big issue and was something that was talked about and dealt with," Miller Delity said.
But under O'Malley and his Republican predecessor Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the issue fizzled, she said.

This session, O'Malley is putting his weight behind two gun bills as part of his legislative agenda.

O'Malley is looking to "close a loophole" and require that people convicted of committing a violent crime with a long gun, such as a rifle, face the same penalty that applies to those who use a handgun: mandatory five years without parole. He's also backing a bill that would increase the time convicted gun offenders spend in prison by reducing "good-time" credits.

"I think he could be louder and stronger on this issue. You see the splash on these environmental proposals that he's supporting," Gutierrez said, referencing the muscle that O'Malley this session has put behind proposals such as an offshore wind farm bill.

O'Malley, who helped push through legislation in 2009 that removed guns from the houses of domestic abusers, is slated to host a "Maryland Forward" Forum on guns and gang violence in Baltimore Thursday.

O'Malley spokesman Shaun Adamec said the impact of just having the governor's name attached to a bill can't be underestimated. It's ultimately what might help "put over the top" the proposal to reduce good-time credits for convicted gun offenders, he said.

"He's doing his part to advocate for the issue," Adamec said.

Aside from O'Malley's two bills, a pair of proposals backed by Baltimore leaders that would tighten some gun laws also will be heard. Another bill scheduled for Tuesday would give state police broader authority to regulate gun stores.

And a proposal that would repeal the controversial "good and substantial" clause in the state's concealed carry law—an annual favorite of Second Amendment advocates—is on the schedule, too.

Up to 200 members of the pro-gun community are expected to swarm the committee hearing, said Paul Dembowski, president of the gun-rights group Maryland Shall Issue.
Showing up en mass to testify against gun restrictions is the best strategy to ward off new laws, Dembowski said. The group also floods the inboxes of committee members with emails in the days leading up to the hearing.

"Our people fight very good defense," Dembowski said, pointing to efforts that have killed past proposals to implement a statewide assault weapons ban."Conversely I don't think we do as good on offense to advance pro-gun legislation."

That's exactly why Del. Don Dwyer, a Republican from Anne Arundel and fierce supporter of gun rights, said he isn't filing any gun bill this session. Dwyer, who almost annually files a bill to ease restrictions in the state's concealed carry law, said little will be accomplished on gun issues this session.

"My guess is it will remain the same," he said. "Neither side will advance, and we'll continue to hold."

http://rockville.patch.com/articles/house-gun-day-highlights-stalemate-in-assembly