Venezuela seizes contraband ammo in shipment from U.S. latino.fox.com‘s headline proclaims. “Venezuela’s militarized police—” Wait. Let’s clarify terms. A “militarized police force” is a publicly-funded army with plenty of firepower and no meaningful accountability. In this case, it’s a “law enforcement” organization that answers to Venezuela’s ruthless autocrat Chavez and his cronies. Who, last February, banned civilian firearms ownership. Ammo is also verboten. So, guess where those seized bullets came from . . .
Venezuela’s militarized police on Tuesday seized 18,000 rounds of ammunition hidden in a container unloaded from a vessel that arrived from the United States, the Interior Ministry reported.
The ammunition found in the northwestern port of Maracaibo was hidden in boxes of electrical appliances imported from Miami, ministry press secretary Jorge Galindo said on Twitter.
I’d like to believe that the CIA was behind the ammo smuggling plot. It would be nice to think that at least some of Uncle Sam’s South American covert ops (of which there are many) support people power—as opposed to backing one drug cartel over another, training secret police and that sort of thing.
I’d also like to believe that Moran Atias and I have a bright future together. I wouldn’t bet on it. Meanwhile, the mainstream media’s willingness to put Venezuela’s gun ban into a pro-government context—excusing it as an anti-crime measure—makes me want to hurl.
The Venezuelan government issued a decree in February banning sales of guns and ammo as part of an effort to curb violence in a country with a murder rate of 48 per 100,000 residents.
The government confirmed that as a result of the measure between February and May authorities recovered some 805,000 bullets from private gun shops which had to close their doors or shift their activities.
About 10 million weapons are circulating illegally in Venezuela, a nation of nearly 30 million people that ended 2011 with 19,336 murders, according to the Venezuelan Observatory on Violence.
This is how a free people descend into a police state. Well, more of a police state. And what is the U.S. doing about it (other than sending petro-dollars into the government’s pocket)? Nothing.
Well, it is the National Rifle Association, not the International Rifle Association. It seems like there’s enough to do here without branching out into other countries. Maybe when there’s absolutely no threat to gun rights at all in this country, the NRA can start focusing on gun rights elsewhere.
haha funny. i think the day when we have no threat to gun rights is coming soon. i just think it will be when we have no right.
Good point. Text amended.
Is Obama suppling them with guns too?? Look at Cuba and you will see it in its copy cat state Venezuela.
The NRA, has been fighting the UN arms treaty, that our President wants to sign, The NRA, opposes any registration because that leads to confiscation. The NRA recognizes the civil right, that is the 2nd amendment. Instead of bashing the NRA, get off your ass and join for $35 freaking dollars. If you don’t like the NRA, join and change it from within. Or, join GOA, Gun owners of America, 2nd amendment foundation, Georgia Carry, Buckeye Firearms Assoc. or any of the grass roots efforts. Bashing the NRA because of what Venezuela does is a cop out! The NRA and all the ones mentioned above, warn everyday of what happens when you COMPROMISE on gun rights!
But what does the NRA do for us? Can’t see that they do a whole lot besides score Congress and sit on their asses? The NRA is a paper tiger with a lot of OFWG’s for suckers. They used to be a great group but recently they have done nothing to help the cause of 2a. Did they stop the Clinton AWB? Did they prevent Big O’s re-election with their strongly worded emails? Didn’t think so.
So join another group.
Many of the posters here have the attitude that CA / NYC / Chicago guns laws don’t affect them. I fight stupid gun laws in CA by helping friends buy ARs, get CCWs, write Senators, etc. It certainly makes sense to focus efforts on your home town, but stupid laws abroad and in other states can have repercussions. Think of the additional pressure against the US when we are the stand alone “ridiculous” nation that has gun freedom. Look at the gun ownership in most UN nations.
If there are feasible ways to support gun freedom around the world, I’m definitely open to those suggestions.
Wouldn’t surprise me if obama/halder set this up to take the spotlight off of fast and furious.
“And what is the U.S. doing about it (other than sending petro-dollars into the government’s pocket)? What does the NRA have to say about the abolition of gun rights in Mexico and throughout South America? Nothing.”
Why does the U.S. HAVE to do anything about it? Let’s keep buying cheap fuel from Venezuela and let them do whatever the hell they want to their own people. We don’t HAVE to be team America world police, if they want freedom let them pay for it in blood and overthrow their own government. And really the NRA has a hard enough time dealing with all the brown folk in this country imagine what the marketing department will do when they have to translate their posters into Spanish?
“And really the NRA has a hard enough time dealing with all the brown folk in this country…”
Wow.
Look around the NRA, it’s not exactly the United Color’s of Benaton. The NRA has trouble convincing minorities to join, so I don’t see it having a major impact in a country populated by by that same group.
Brown people? Really irock, it’s pretty much the other way around, hispanics as a large group vote democrat and support greater gun control; I would welcome anyone regardless of color who supports freedom; to many hispanics end up supporting tyranny and dictatorship; maybe they need to change thier cultural perspective and quit supporting being helpless, powerless and dependant.
Yes ThomasR, brown people. Really. This website published an article on why the NRA doesn’t include
blacks, their Hispanic population isn’t any stronger so I lumped them together as brown people, or if you prefer people of color. And I understand Hispanics normally vote democratic and are in favor of strict gun laws, as such they aren’t likely to belong to the National Rifle Association. I know this, and that is why I said that the NRA has a hard enough time with the brown people in America, let alone trying to convince them to join a Venezuelan branch. For a black man’s perspective on the issue you can read the article below.
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/04/robert-farago/rick-ector-why-the-nra-doesnt-include-blacks/
There you go, it’s not the NRA and the gun community rejecting “brown people” , it’s “brown people” rejecting freedom and liberty and the people who support it.
“I’d like to believe that the CIA was behind the ammo smuggling plot. ”
well you should JUST believe that they were because it is true alongside the CIA’s other activities in Venezuela.
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/032304_haiti_pt1.html
The OPENING PICTURE looks like it could be Los Angles, Chicago, New York
Swat Teams,,
Are you sure it is Venezuela ?
COMING TO U.S. City near you
I grew up in Venezuela (American expatriate) in the late 60s through the late 70s. It was actually a great place back then. A shame what’s happened in recent years.
You can say the same about the U.S…….
Sad and utterly pathetic….
18,000 rounds isn’t much yet more than enough for the gun-grabbers to use it as a claim in the mass media that new ammo control laws need to be passed.
Moran Atias is a classic beauty. Robert, here’s hoping that your dreams come true.
18,000 rounds is not a whole lot of ammo if you are talking about supporting some sort or revolution. I have 10,000 rounds in my basement just for plinking.
The ammo was probably being smuggled in by some rich individual with a large property to shoot on without being noticed.
Or possibly someone who wanted the guards around his grow operation to be armed.
Concur that 18k rounds isn’t enough for a revolution, but it sounds about right for equipping a couple dozen guys.
A vast majority of Americans live with ‘militarized police’ as well – what else might you call SWAT and similar tactical teams when they roll in armored personnel carriers? We’ve seen a steady militarization of local PDs for decades now, in the name of and funded by the Drug War.
It’s too bad the freedom-loving conservative patriots in the gun world, by and large, are okay with such power wielded by local cops.
I had a chuckle milo when you said “freedom loving conservative patriots”; like Robert said, ” there’s none so blind as those who will not see”.
The war on drugs should be called the war on our civil rights.
by definition, “conservatives” just don’t like change. They don’t necessarily like freedom, as shown in American politics.
Well said. Both parties like tyranny, just which flavor they support is the only difference.
Great post, the inference being of course that if it weren’t for you gun-rights champions, this would happen here too. Comparing the USA to Venezuela makes sense to you, right?
There’s none so blind as those who will not see.
I have an idea, why don’t we see what the murder rate goes up to after a couple years with “no guns.”
Venezuela’s murder rate will go down. Officially.
I guess it’d be hard to count someone as murdered when they’re “missing”.
Yeay, that’ll work. We could check on that while we’re waiting for Australia and the UK to turn tyrannical and start rounding people up in camps.
australia and britain are like americas little poodles. they help us with our war on terror to pain the illusion that were doing the right thing, but they oppress their citizens with surveillance and internet censorship.
“keep calm and carry on”… sure. well see how calm and enthusiastic britons are to carry on with the collapse of our economic paradigm.
venezuela is painted as villainous because they oppose the US monetary paradigm, alongside Russia, China, Iran, and Syria. But, but…they’re the axis of evil!
You know, somewhere in Venezuela there is a warehouse full of cosmolined Ven-contract FN49s and FNDs (changable-barrel BAR) in 7×57. Hugo can ship me one of each if he wants to get rid of his guns.
The only answer is for the United States to get out of the United Nations. The
John Birch Society (www.jbs.org) in Appleton, Wisconsin and their “Get Us Out
Of The UN” campaign (www.getusout.org) is the answer for restoring American
sovereignty. In additon to the JBS another pro-gun/Second Amendment
institution is JPFO, Inc. ( http://www.jpfo.org). Both The John Birch Society and JPFO,
Inc. respectively, have no NRA affiliation.
Venezuela’s murder rate is right up there with other third world hellholes like Honduras, El Salvador and Detroit. 🙂
BTW, Mexico’s murder rate is about half of Venezuela’s, even taking into account that the rate tripled in 6 years of Calderone’s war against Los Zetas.
The premise of this article is wrong. The UK and Australia are “disarmed” citizens and yet there are not raids and insurrections happening. Lets compare like withe like. Cultural, politically and economically the US, UK and Australia have more in common than Cuba, Venezuela and the US.
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