Scanning the headline from our sister newspaper, we were tempted to ask, “What’s the problem?” After all, the alleged gun-smuggling miscreants reside in a state whose governor has chided his fellow Texans for not owning as many guns as their California counterparts. They live in a state where guns are ubiquitous; in stores, in shops, in restaurants, even at church, people are packing heat. (That gospel singer reminds us of a campaign ad then-Attorney General Greg Abbott ran a few years back, the one where he urged his fellow Texans to get more familiar with two things: guns and the Bible. He’s an Abbott two-fer, so to speak.)
Again, what’s the problem? Don’t the people of Mexico have an even more urgent need than we do to arm themselves? From what we hear, several Mexican towns and cities are under siege by murderous drug cartels; law enforcement is outgunned (or in cahoots with the cartels). Applying the logic of Abbott and his fellow Second Amendment absolutists, it would seem that law-abiding Mexicans need every AR-15 they can get their hands on. Nearly 5,000 assault-style rifles would, in a small way, even the odds.
On second thought, we realized, of course, that those guns aren’t going to the defenseless besieged. They’re going to the cartels.
