Fast And Furious?

I haven't said anything here about Operation Fast And Furious here because a whole lot of folks with more resources have been right in the middle of uncovering this mess. Folks like Michelle Malkin and The Sipsey Street Irregulars, both of whom I would have on my sidebar if I hadn't have borked my blogroll. Still, I have this one little thing to say...

Anyone who buys a firearm at a licensed dealer must provide identification, fill out the GCA'68 paperwork and then wait while the dealer calls it into the ATF. The ATF then gives a yes or no answer. Repeat, no firearm goes out the door without prior approval. *

Now we see that the Mexican government has filed suit against US gunmaking firms, the few that are left, over this. Um, it ain't the gunmaking firms, it's the government. And furthermore, why isn't the Mexican government suing all those outfits that make AK47s? After all, there are more of those down there than anything else, although most of them seem to be the Chinese copy.

So far it seems like the ATF let 1700-1800 guns "walk" into Mexico. This, of course, is a tiny fraction of the guns the cartels have. Seems they buy most from international dealers in places like Venezuela, the second biggest supply is Mexican soldiers either deserting to join the cartels or just selling the weapons.

So, pardon me for bein' a pore dumb redneck but shouldn't Mexico be suing the ATF, Venezuela, China and their own Army before they get to our gunmakers?

Okay, we know that the guns involved in this operation were used in at least two murders of US law enforcement officers, another was used to shoot down a Mexican government helo. Here is something else we know. The people that figured this operation out call Sarah Palin stupid. God save the republic.

* Certain firearms, those made before 1898 and muzzle loaders seem to still be exempt from all this but I haven't noticed the Cartels using Brown Bess Muskets much.