Hablando de pendejos, you post nothing factual. Just assumptions on your part. Even in the face of evidence such as the seizure of 147 AKs this week you continue to deny the fact that these weapons are coming from the USA. It doesn’t really matter where they are built. They still kill and they are still coming south from the USA.
And what the fuck is 70,000usd to the cartels? You are truly stupid if you think the cost of converting these weapons matters much to the cartels.
“Authorities over the weekend busted one of the largest illegal weapons rings in city of Santa Barbara history, seizing 13 guns, including eight fully automatic AK-47 assault rifles…” Starks said a fully automatic AK-47 sells on the black market for around $1,500 to $2,000, while a semi-automatic version can go for $1,000.
Yeah, I’m not sure you ever did. You’re either deliberately ignorant or a troll - this has all been explained to you before, and yet you will again and again simply ignore that what you say is factually untrue.
As far as illegal full auto AK conversions, I keep mentioning this but it doesn’t stick: You can’t do this anymore. With certain guns back in the 80s you could, and the ATF responded quickly by putting requirements on guns that they were built or modified in such a way that they couldn’t be converted to full auto.
You used to be able to drop in the proper missing parts and it would become full auto or select fire. But after the mid-80s, every gun sold in the US has to be crippled in a way that prevents the parts from being dropped in or working. In the case of the AK, the part of the receiver that the auto firing sear connects to is simply missing - drilled out. You can’t replace it. You’d have to remanufacture the entire receiver to be able to do it - and if you’re doing that, you’ve done most of the work to manufacturing a new weapon, so if you have the machine shops and expertise, just build them from scratch yourself.
I’m not saying they lack the expertise, I’m saying if those are legal-for-US-sale AK-47 variants, then there is actual serious fabrication necessary to make them full-auto.
I am having a hard time understanding the rationale behind smuggling US-legal AK-47 variants into Mexico when actual AK-47s are almost 10 times cheaper and require less work.
Has there been any indication of whether the seized shipment was of legal or illegal-in-the-US status and any specifics of the weaponry?
You know, whether they are US made or foreign made, legal or illegal, semi-auto or select fire, there are many AK-47s coming from the USA into México. Ask the dead policeman in Mazatlan which he prefers to be killed with.
And what about all of the AR 15s that abound here? Are they built anywhere outside of the USA? I know that they can come into México though other routes but if xtime can assume all of the AKs are brought in from Central America then why can’t we assume the M16s and AR15s come directly from the country of origen?
When the price of the legal object is kept artficially high (by an order of magnitude+) is it surprising that the black market version would be cheaper?
Yes, but the thread is about the NRA and US gun regulation as it relates to the topic–if the smugglers are smuggling illegal-in-the-US weapons or evading US regulation that’s one thing, and if the smugglers are smuggling legal-in-the-US weapons, that’s quite another.
Obviously, either way it sucks for the good guys in Mazatlan, and we need stricter border enforcement looking for outgoing weapons, but one of these scenarios is not at all making the case that Evil Captor thinks he’s making in the OP and I’m interested to know which it is. The other scenario isn’t making his case either, but it’s closer to it.
As for AR-15s, as far as I know, they’re mostly if not entirely US-manufactured. Again, I’d be interested to know (in terms of determining the best methods for addressing the problem on this side of the border) how many are legally civilian-purchased from the US vs. stolen or smuggled.
You understand WHY I’m looking at this distinction, right? If these guns are primarily illegal in the US, then further regulation of legal firearms in the US is not going to address the problem at all. If they are, it does make sense at a minimum to look at ways we could minimize legal sales of these arms to potential smuggling-to-Mexico operations. The more we know about the specifics of these weapons’ origins, types, and legal status, the more directly targeted our approach to solving the issue can be, and the more likely it can be addressed by properly-tailored laws that won’t engender a knee-jerk “no” vote from right-wingers rightly concerned about the 2nd Amendment rights of their constituents.
Besides in your case, supply and demand would determine the price, wouldn’t it? Very few legal automatics vs many more illegal ones? Honest gun owners willing to pay big prices for legal weapons. Hmmm…maybe you are onto something. Would it be possible that there ARE a boat load of illegal AK-47s in the USA? And could these not find there way into the hands of cartels here?
CBEscapee, please. The Zetas, for example, are well-funded ex-army types who know their weapons. They wouldn’t bother with US semi-auto rifles when there’s so much available out there for so much less.
I totally agree that a great deal of this mess is due to the US demand for drugs, but really, our demand for drugs has brought out the worst in Mexico.
