GUN-RUNNING: FEDS FIELD 7 TEAMS TO STOP SMUGGLING

Guns are the standard business equipment for warring drug cartels, so
cutting into the supply of weapons smuggled into Mexico from the
United States would seem to be a good idea.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives has been making
attempts to do this. ATF just announced results of a 100-day effort of
the Gun Runner Impact Team (GRIT): 174 firearms trafficking-related
criminal investigations; seizure of approximately 1,300 illegally
trafficked firearms and 71,000 rounds of ammunition; and drugs and
currency, according to the ATF website. Now ATF is setting up teams in
seven states, with the goal of stopping guns from getting into Mexico
and into the hands of cold-blooded killers.

It seems a bit strange that El Paso is not on the list to receive one
of the teams. And, strangely, New Mexico is not on the list. Hopefully
that means that these are not huge gun-running areas, although that
may be wishful thinking.

Getting ATF teams will be, according to the ATF, Atlanta; Dallas;
Brownsville, Texas; Las Vegas; Miami; Oklahoma City; and Sierra Vista,
Ariz.

Dennis Burke, United States Attorney for the District of Arizona,
said, "We are fighting on a crucial front here today to reduce
violence in our own communities, and to disrupt and dismantle the
southbound supply of weapons to the cartels.

"We will not be a gun locker for the cartels, who have made murder and
mayhem their modus operandi. We will not tolerate violent criminals
and others who illegally possess, purchase or sell firearms."

Whether those brave words can be backed up with results and success
remains to be seen. It's heartening to see the results produced by
GRIT. If those can be replicated and multiplied, perhaps it will go at
least a little way toward reducing violence in Mexico.

After all, nothing else seems to be working.