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In reply to the discussion: Mexico says it will take legal action against US over El Paso shooting [View all]Igel
(35,472 posts)It's easier to put all the numbers there so that people's take-away is "70% ... from US."
You can find that number all over the place, cited--or, rather, hopelessly and cynically mis-cited--as "70% of the weapons seized from Mexican cartels came from the US."
I don't know whether it's worse to assume that the reporters are too innumerate to catch the difference, too indifferent to notice the difference, or too motivated to overlook the difference. In the first case, they don't understand; in the second, they don't notice; in the third, they don't want to notice.
The few things I've seen that indicate a country of origin suggest that the usual cheap arms suppliers are at fault. China, Russia, and off-market manufacturers in lesser monitored countries. Formerly places like Romania and Libya, probably some less reputable places in Africa or Asia these days, maybe South America. But they need an easy way to get them on ships unnoticed, and a country less than concerned with things like moral standards for people not in their own government.