5114 is not 90% of 29,000 – Check Your Math
It seems there is a small (cough) discrepancy in the reports that 90% of the guns used by Mexican drug cartels come from America. How ’small’ a discrepancy you ask?
It’s more like 90% of the guns submitted to the US for tracing were actually traced to have originated in the US.
An article on FOXNews.com shows that of the 29,000 weapons seized in 2007-2008 by Mexican authorities only 6000 were turned over to the US for tracing since the rest had no serial number markings on them. That means we’re talking about 17% to 18% of ALL the weapons (5114 to be exact) seized that could be traced as coming from the US.
Read the FOXNews.com article here.
Now that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work harder to prevent US weapons from getting to Mexico – 5114 is enough not to be sneezed at – but the claims being put forth by the media and politicians are disingenuous.
Trying to hype the problem for your own agenda does nothing but build more mistrust when you’re caught mistating the facts or outright lying.
5 Responses to “5114 is not 90% of 29,000 – Check Your Math”
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Thank you for being real about the facts.
theorganicnurse - April 3, 2009 at 6:06 am
You’re welcome. Thank you for the comment.
chiefopiner - April 3, 2009 at 7:36 am
Yes, chiefopiner, thanks for being truthful about the facts. So many times, we see the gun laws in the United States blamed for a lot of things that they are not guilty of. It’s good to see someone else willing to tell the truth about this.
LarryJackson - April 3, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Thanks for your comment Larry.
In many respects we have the laws available to us that are sufficient in regulating society. I feel that it is more a case of enforcing the existing laws that is the cause of problems.
It is certainly unhelpful when there is a lack of accuracy and honesty in reporting on the ‘facts’ of a situation of some kind. Being blatantly upfront with the correct facts, instead of overstating or hyping the truth, would lead us to be more accurate in finding true solutions to situations.
As I stated in the post, having over 5000 guns getting into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels is a problem. Yet, there are solutions available (like the ‘new’ action of x-raying outgoing rail cars and alerting Mexican customs to suspicious anomalies so they can inspect them specifically for contraband) for intercepting these weapons short of the need to rush in more laws that would be repressive to the rights of law abiding Americans. Trying the available avenues should always come before the rush to legislative action.
chiefopiner - April 3, 2009 at 5:04 pm
I am glad to see someone who thinks like that. Far too often the first inclination or suggestion is that we need tougher and stricter laws when in reality, those will do nothing but restrict the access of law abiding citizens to their rights, while doing nothing to stop the criminals.
LarryJackson - April 3, 2009 at 8:00 pm