CBS News Exposes the Real Source of Cartel Guns

In 2009 President Obama alleged that 90% of the cartel's guns came from US gun shops that "line our shared boarder". Almost immediately this figure was proven false by multiple sources - including Wikileaks, which released cables from the US Embassy that detailed where the guns really came from. Today CBS News reported on one of the primary sources of cartel guns: Direct sales of guns to the Mexican government, approved by Hillary Clinton's State Department.

CBS reports that State approved 2,476 guns in 2006. By 2009, the figure was 18,709. The State Department refuses to give figures for 2010 and 2011. 26% of these guns are known to be diverted to the cartels. CBS also reports that Mexican government admits that 9,000 weapons purchased from the US are missing from the Mexican police alone. Even more weapons are likely to be missing from the Mexican military. This means that literally tens of thousands of "US sourced" weapons sold to the Mexican government have gone to the cartels - vastly more than in Fast and Furious.

Missing from the CBS report is the fact that when these guns are recovered in Mexico and traced by ATF, they are counted with guns sold in US gun shops to inflate the figure - which is then used to justify gun control.

While many (if not all) those at CBS news probably do not realize that they are proving that the administration knowingly lied about US gun shops being a major source of Mexican cartel guns - that is exactly what they have done. In addition to the Mexican military and police, the Wikileaks sourced US diplomatic cables referenced by CBS also reveal that the Central American black market is the other major source of cartel guns.

The information above has been around for a long, long time (2-3 years). Senator Charles Grassley referenced it in a press releases exposing administration figures on Mexican crime guns as false, most recently on November 15th. Fox News has also reported on the issue - way back in 2009. The gun rights media has made this case on the internet for three years. Now CBS news has become the first old guard, mainstream media outlet to cover the issue. By doing so, they may have opened a can of worms that the administration would have preferred reamined closed.