It should be noted that the administration is trying to help the Mexican government in fighting the cartels, so the idea of this just being an excuse could be true, but the new administration is concerned about the violence on the border regardless. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6281417.html WASHINGTON — Federal agents have rounded up more than 750 suspects in a wide-ranging crackdown on Mexican drug cartels operating inside the United States. More than 50 of the suspects were arrested overnight in a series of raids coordinated by the Drug Enforcement Administration aimed at capturing members of the Sinaloa cartel, blamed for a rising tide of violence in Mexico and the United States. Another 700 suspects were arrested previously over the course of the DEA's 21-month Operation Xcellerator, officials said. Attorney General Eric Holder said the cartels "are lucrative, they are violent, and they are operated with stunning planning and precision." At a press conference announcing the arrests, Holder also suggested that re-instituting a U.S. ban on the sale of assault weapons would help reduce the bloodshed in Mexico, where last year 6,000 people were killed in drug-related violence. U.S. officials have a responsibility to make sure Mexican police "are not fighting substantial numbers of weapons, or fighting against AK-47's or other similar kinds of weapons that have been flowing to Mexico," Holder said. DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart said the raid showed the tentacles of the crime syndicate had spread far across the U.S. — not just to major cities like Washington and Los Angeles, but to quiet, smaller communities like Stowe, Iowa, which the cartel allegedly used as a conduit to funnel drugs around the country. Leonhart said the Sinaloa cartel has become one of the largest organized crime operations in the world. The overnight roundup by DEA and state and local police included arrests in California, Minnesota, and the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. "They've been hit hard, and their ability to spread death and destruction has been diminished" by the arrests, Leonhart said. Yet while the investigation proceeded over many months, over the same period, the cartel violence on both sides of the border increased substantially. Kidnappings, killings and other crimes related to the cross-border drug trade have escalated as heavily armed gangs battle for turf on the doorstep of the U.S. narcotics market. The State Department issued a travel warning on Friday, urging U.S. citizens traveling to Mexico to be aware of the increased threat of violence and kidnapping, especially along the border. The situation in Ciudad Juarez, which lies across the border from El Paso, is of special concern, the State Department cautioned. It also issued an advisory for the more than 100,000 students who travel to Mexico for spring break. The department warns of the increased border violence and advises revelers to Matamoros and Nuevo Progresso, popular destinations for spring breakers on South Padre Island, Texas, to "exercise common-sense precautions such as visiting only the well-traveled business and tourism areas of border towns during daylight and early-evening hours."
i can appreciate the argument, but no one thinks individual citizens can go ask lockheed if we can buy the jsf. realistically this notion of fighting an oppressive gov't, which is where i think the constitution found the need for an armed citizenry is archaic. we can't have nukes, we can't have fighter planes, we can't have submarines. so while i very much respect and appreciate the need to ensure we're not ignoring the constitution for expedience, i do think reading into the constitution the notion that the citizenry should be allowed to have arms in order to defend against an oppressive government is just not tenable.
He is just joking. He is totally partisan and loves to see his party make the other party mad. No matter what bridges he burns from people like myself who might be pro gunrights at the same time as pro choice, against school vouchers, supporting the government paying more for higher education, pro-union, or whatever it may be. I guess it is a game to him where he can rack up scores.
No mostly because they hand out information packets to their undesirables and criminals on how to make it across the border. And the amount of crime they commit once they are here.
And what do you think we did when we fought the Revolutionary War? Called the UN and asked for sanctions against big bad Great Britain? No we kicked ass and took names and this is the very essence of the American spirit. If you want to be a nanny state drone then move to another country...
CaseyH if apologize if I called you a turd in any thread. i think both sides need to chill out... anti-gun advocate have to realize that there will never be a ban on all guns bc of the 2nd amendment. it is a constitutional right to bear arms. arms rights advocates need to stop being so paranoid and compromise w/ those who advocate restrictions on certain ammunition and weapons. wanna defend your house, buy a shotty. wanna carry concealed, do it w/in the law. i really cant see how someone can justify owning an ak47 to defend themselves unless they live in somolia, juarez, or a 3rd world country where there really is no government...
The Second Amendment: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. When was the last time we had a well regulated Militia in this country?
People much smarter than you have already found that the intent was an individual right. A well educated population, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear books, shall not be infringed.
People much smarter than you have questioned whether the Founding Father's intent was an individual right for decades. Care to answer my question?
It is insane to think legalized guns would help the situation in Mexican border towns. I agree with everyone arguing with me that allowing private citizens to own nukes or subs or fighter jets is crazy/dumb/untenable/unforeseen/etc. But the Constitution assigned no limit. It needs to be amended. Re-interpreting for reasonableness is just lazy. If I have a SOx procedure in the office that is dumb, I have to have the procedure formally changed, not casually re-interpreted. Amend or remove the clause.
