NRA Will Defend "Rights" Of Gun Smugglers

The failed United States "War on Drugs" has created an extremely lucrative black market for the drug trade (just like the U.S.'s first attempt at prohibition did for alcohol). And this black market has created a new breed of organized criminals, known as drug cartels. In Mexico, these cartels are warring with one another to control the import of drugs into the United States -- and these "cartel wars" have caused the deaths of between 35,000 and 40,000 people in Mexico (including police and soldiers trying to stop the killing and innocent civilians caught in the crossfire).

Much of the blame for these thousands of deaths must lie with the United States. Not only did U.S. drug policy create the cartels, but they have been armed mostly with guns from the United States. Thousands of firearms, including military-style semi-automatic weapons, are purchased from dealers in the U.S. and smuggled to the cartels in Mexico each year.

After years of inaction, the United States government has finally taken some action to stop the illegal shipment of firearms into Mexico. The government has issued a rule that will now require any gun dealer in the border states (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California) to contact the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Expolsives (ATF) if an individual purchases more than two semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines in a five-day period.

This is a reasonable action that probably should have been done long ago. It won't stop the smuggling altogether, but it will make it a little harder for the smugglers to purchase the firearms.

Incredibly, the National Rifle Association (NRA) is saying it will go to court to stop the new regulation. This probably shouldn't surprise anyone since the NRA has opposed any regulation of guns, no matter how sensible or needed the regulation was. It even opposed the waiting period and background check to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals or the dangerously mentally ill -- in spite of the fact that this was (and is) supported by a large majority of American citizens.

I'm not sure what the NRA sees as a problem to the new federal rules. Any American citizen (that can pass a background check) can still purchase as many firearms as they want, including semi-automatic firearms with detachable magazines. They can even purchase more than two in a five-day period if they can justify the purchase to the ATF. And even following the two in a five day restriction, they could purchase more than a hundred firearms in a year.

Obviously, the new federal regulation does not harm the ability of Americans to purchase whatever firearms they want. The only thing it does is make it a little bit harder for smugglers to purchase large quantities of firearms. So, just who is the NRA trying to protect by fighting the new regulation in court? The smugglers! The NRA should be ashamed of itself. This is not a Second Amendment issue. It is an effort to stop smuggling and save lives.