Mexican drug cartel reps not welcome at Phoenix gun expo

Announcement from the Arizona Game and Fish Department: "Want the opportunity to shoot the new high-powered .416 Alaskan rifle just made for taking down a grizzly bear or other large game animal, but is engineered to be lighter and shorter than magnums?

"Or maybe you are interested in the other extreme -– Ruger’s rugged new generation of small lightweight pistols built on aircraft-quality aluminum frames, which can readily fit into fanny packs or purses?

"Take the opportunity to shoot guns, guns and more guns from the three major firearms manufacturers participating in the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Outdoor Expo at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility on the northern edge of Phoenix from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 28-29."

Reaction: Wonder how many reps from Mexico's drug cartels will be present? Or whether they'd like to possess the .416 Alaskan rifle? Or whether they've already tested and possess every new weapon to be showcased?

Seriously, you think guns these days, especially in border states such as Arizona, and you cannot help but think about cartels, which obtain most of their weaponry in the U.S.

That's because the media keep driving home the point. CNN has featured weapons-smuggling in its "The War Next Door" series. The Los Angeles Times has covered the issue in its ongoing "Mexico Under Siege" series.

The New York Times earlier this month published a story about a Phoenix gun shop owner charged with selling hundreds of AK-47s and other weapons to "straw buyers," who in turn delivered them to a cartel in Sinaloa.

The prosecution believed it had a solid case, but as the Arizona Republic recently reported, a judge dismissed criminal charges against George Iknadosian, owner of X-Caliber guns, ruling that purchases made in his shop were legal and that "there is no proof whatsoever that any prohibited [firearm] possessor ended up with the firearms."

There will be an appeal. Meanwhile, Arizonans are psyched about this weekend's free expo. It should be a fun experience, as long as the wrong element doesn't show up.

-- Pete Thomas

Photos: Arizona Game and Fish Department

Comments

[James]

I've seen Grenades in suplus stores in the valley plenty of times. Although most had been filled with molten steel, I did come across some that weren't. I have seen grenades advertised in magazines before.

[Ed Fenner]

Again the media is fueling the anti-gun hysteria by biased and slanted reporting. There is a huge differnece between an actual AK-47(full auto capable) and a AK-47 "type" rifle. It is illegal to sell a real AK-47(full auto capable) without the proper Federal paperwork, however the media seems to dimiss that as unimpotant as they spread hysterical headlines about AK-47's being sold at gun shows, go figure.

[Pete R]

The cartels get their weapons from sources that have military grade weaponry. Probably their own corrupt government. With the money they have, they don't slink into a "Gun Store" and purchase these weapons under the counter, then run back across the boarder. More than likely the General in charge of stopping the Cartels, has a showing at the armory in the convention center in Mexico City.

[Bob]

To stop the supposed flow of straw brought weapons across the border...
To stop the drug flow across the border.
Search all vehicles.......And tighten security alone the whole border...

Let AMERICANS keep their weapons.........

[caliche]

I live in Phoenix, but I am not going near the Expo this weekend. It's too bad, because I really want to. It is just going to be sooo crowded that you won't be able to get near the Avery Center. Game & Fish just completed a beautiful rebuilding project and they have everything - including coin operated clay-pigeon pullers I'm told - that a red-blooded American boy would want. The Second Amendment is alive and well in Phoenix, Arizona.

People like Jon K who go around calling people they've never met 'gun nuts' need to take a deep breath and maybe even take a gun safety class. I guarantee your outlook on firearms will change once you've had a chance to fire away after you've been told how to do it correctly.

[ken morrow]

according to the fbi, batf, dea (all hq'd across the street from my house) and the mexican authorities (only a couple more miles away); only about 10% of the cartel weapons being used in chihuahua province by the cartel soldiers are being smuggled in from the us. run a search or 2 and do some reading and u'll find this out for urself...reported in mainstream media when you dig deep enough. and a chunk of that is grenades and fully automatic weapons that are illegal in the us already. they are being stolen moreso than legally purchased. the us deputy marshal killed a couple of days ago and discovered yesterday in juarez was wanted for stealing weapons from the us marshals service. and he was executed by the cartels before he could be apprehended by american authorities. this is the way the game is played. even the democrats in congress know that reinstating the awb would do NOTHING to stem the tide of illegal weapons to these monsters. laws don't stop career criminals...especially not organized crime elements with deep inroads in gov't, law enforcement, and even the military.

[Daniel]

Jon K
Actually there was an article in the LA Times detailing the types of weapons being use and they couldn't be bought by ordinary citizens in the US. The report stated the weapons were either coming from the military, law enforcement, international gun runners or the Mexican Government.

[Jon K.]

Dennis,

You sound like a gun nut.

So, you make these statements, but where's your evidence to support it?

Yes, I have never seen grenades for sale at a gun store, but I've seen plenty of other stuff that the Mexican cartels are using. Law enforcement agencies say there is plenty of gun smuggling across the American border to Mexico. Tell us how you have such inside information that you KNOW that the Obama Administration is creating a lie.

Or are use just another paranoid gun nut sitting in his bunker cleaning his guns and thinking to himself over and over, "They ain't gunna take my guns! They ain't gunna take my guns!"

My gut says the latter of the two is most likely true.

[Jon K.]

Pete,

The wrong element is going to show up. We both know that.

[Dennis]

What kind of moron actually believes that the guns used by the drug cartels in Mexico can be purchased in the US? This is a lie started by the Obama administration and spread by a complicit media to get support for a gun ban.
Tell us, when was the last time you saw hand grenades and RPG's in gun stores and gun shows? Nonsense!
The Clinton "Assault Weapon" ban was not a ban at all. Anyone could buy these guns anywhere during the ban period. Look it up for yourself.

[juan]

hhhi