This seems to sum it up nicely

And this one, as is, I'd label "The last thing you ever saw"
Although I'm tempted to label the bear either 'Congress' or 'Obama's budget'

Both found thanks to Theo

As if we needed more examples of politician stupidity,

we have this from Liberty Girl:
Come April 1, the fed govt is going to start taxing us smokers like never before, with an additional $1.01 per pack. The old fed tax was 39 cents. That is almost tripled. The object of this higher tax: to pay for the new SCHIP program that covers “children” up to, what, age thirty-something for health care insurance.

In the next breath, the fed says that new tax will make adults stop smoking and prevent kids from starting.
I will leave aside any opinions about smoking, I'm talking about the pure stupidity and/or crookedness of this. They're going to tax cigarettes to pay for a health program for kids, AND they say the tax will cause people to stop smoking. Which, if true, means the money for the health program goes away, which means they'll want to raise taxes on something else to raise the money. So the politicians are either too stupid to see that, or so dishonest that they're counting on taxing something else later and hoping the anti-smoking nazis will help them get through any questions.

The country is truly in the Best of Hands

This is who's in charge of 'Homeland Security'

SPIEGEL: Madame Secretary, in your first testimony to the US Congress as Homeland Security Secretary you never mentioned the word "terrorism." Does Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose a threat to your country?

Napolitano: Of course it does. I presume there is always a threat from terrorism. In my speech, although I did not use the word "terrorism," I referred to "man-caused" disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.
A 'man-caused disaster' would be a dam failing, or a bridge falling because of engineering or maintenance failures; 'terrorism' is when someobody BLOWS UP THE BRIDGE, you moron. Or FLIES AIRPLANES INTO BUILDINGS. In other words, the things the enemy does that you don't want to call terrorism because of your 'politics of fear' feewings. You idiot.

Range day followup

Along with trying out the new M1, had a chance to try the 7.62x54r light load in a Finn M91/30. Which demonstrated that these things can indeed shoot well:
5 rounds, 100 yards, Lee 180-grain gas-check bullet over 16.0 grains of 2400. Given a better shot, I think this might have tightened up a bit.

This particular rifle had been counterbored at some point to remove damage at the crown. Instead of the usual tapered or funnel-shaped cut, this one looked like they'd used either a straight cutting bit or a boring bar to cut straight back from the muzzle for about 2 to 2.5"; new square crown well back from the muzzle. Whichever way they did it, it worked.


I mentioned the H&R M1 liked the HXP ball ammo. I also tried out some of the 150-grain cast loads. At 50 yards, not bad:
The first shot is the low one, the others nicely clustered. But at 100 yards, got this:
First two low, the other strung vertically. I got very similar results first time I tried this load at 100 in a different rifle: first two low, the others pretty tight windage-wise but strung vertically. Maybe powder position affecting velocity, I don't know. According to the Chrony this load gives an average velocity of about 1900fps, and cycles the action with no problem. But unless I can figure out something to tighten this up, it's going to be a 'indoor range only' load for when I want to shoot the M1 there.

In other news, did some digging around and helped find some .32acp dies and bullets for the Pocket Hammerless, which makes the owner very happy; not only is that ammo a bit expensive, but, like just about every other centerfire pistol cartridge, it's sold out all over the place locally. Handloading will begin soon.

Aside from the general "You cannot let cops get away

with crap like this", one line that sums up the idiocy going on in Philadelphia is near the end:
Ortiz said he took a plea deal and served six months' probation and 25 hours of community service for selling the tiny plastic bags.

Plastic bags.
...
For selling effing plastic bags.

So not only is there a strong possibility of a unit of bad cops using the law for their own purposes, one of the things they're using to pull this crap off is 'plastic bags are drug paraphernalia' worth a raid involving drawn weapons. Under the heading 'crap' I include 'raids with bullshit like this as an excuse'. And the brains(supposed) of politicians who passed laws on plastic bags.

So we're a step closer to powerguns,

and air defense that includes 'pop the shell as it approaches':
In recent test-blasts, Pentagon-researchers at Northrop Grumman managed to get its 105 kilowatts of power out of their laser -- past the "100kW threshold [that] has been viewed traditionally as a proof of principle for 'weapons grade' power levels for high-energy lasers," Northrop's vice president of directed energy systems, Dan Wildt, said in a statement.

That much power won't get you a Star Wars-style blaster. But it should be more than enough to zap the mortars and rockets that insurgents have used to pound American bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Son has informed me that artillery now has
rocket-assisted rounds for extended range,
laser-guided rounds and
GPS-guided rounds that, depending on conditions, can be fired up to 90 degrees out-of-line with the target, and still course-correct and hit.
Now if somebody'll finally lick the problem so we have tanks and self-propelled guns powered by a fusion bottle, and individual guns for air defense on each... Who wants to bet the first unit calls itself the Slammers or Alpha Company?

Ok, this isn't just creepy, it's

scary:
A visit to the OFA website reveals that supporters are not simply asked to sign up, they are asked to take a pledge. A pledge to support -- not the flag, not the constitution, not the country, not even the Democratic Party, but Obama and his "bold plan." OFA does not use the Democratic Party logo but the "O"-shaped logo of the Obama campaign in which the red white and blue of the flag are abstracted to soft pastel colors.
This sounds like something out of Mao's China: "Support the Great Leader! And his Five Year Plan!"

The Navy gave Rep. Murtha(Lying Bastard-PA) an award,

and somebody thought we should let the brass know what we think of it.
Congressman Murtha's selfless devotion to the Nation's Sailors and Marines ensured they were provided the resources necessary to effectively conduct the Global War on Terrorism. His courageous leadership, vision, and loyalty to the men and women of the Department of the Navy greatly contributed to their quality of life and helped create the most modern and highly trained fighting force in history. As Chairman of Subcommittee on Defense of the House Appropriations Committee, Congressman Murtha's tireless advocacy helped maintain the Navy and Marine Corps team at the highest levels of combat readiness to meet the challenges of the 21st century. With grateful appreciation for his outstanding contributions to the Nation and the Navy and Marine Corps, Congressman Murtha is awarded the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award.
My first thought is, "Why are they kissing his ass this way? What are they trying to get out of this slimeball?" Don't have an answer, but this petition is at least a way to say "We don't agree."

And the hitchhiker made the university very happy

as they didn't have one:
TULSA, Okla. - One of the most deadly spiders in the world has been found in the produce section of a Tulsa grocery store.

An employee of Whole Foods Market found the Brazilian Wandering Spider Sunday in bananas from Honduras and managed to catch it in a container.
Question: was he just wondering what it was, or do they expect something rare and possibly valuable? Or was he just not a spider-squisher?

The spider was given to University of Tulsa Animal Facilities director Terry Childs who says this type of spider kills more people than any other.

Childs says a bite will kill a person in about 25 minutes and while there is an antidote he doesn't know of any in the Tulsa area.
Well, I wouldn't expect there to be; it would be like calling the doctors office in, say, Altus and asking of they had cobra antivenom. You would not expect to hear "Yes" as the answer. More like "Uh, sir, do you have a cobra?" in a very apprehensive voice.


Added: Yeesh, talk about fate worse than death:
Aside from causing intense pain, the venom of the spider can also cause priapism - uncomfortable erections that can last for many hours and lead to impotence. The venom may eventually be used in erectile dysfunction treatments.

A bunch of Dem representatives have said

"Don't try it" to Holder. A very helpful thing.

Sen. Chris Countrywide Dodd has now admitted he's a liar,

the question is what else did he lie about?
CNN Producer: “And there was nothing you were doing that was aimed at protecting AIG?”
Senator Dodd: “Not at all. Not in the slightest. . . . The point is when that language left the Senate I wrote, that was not included.”

Today, on CNN’s Situation Room, Dodd changed his tune and implicated the Treasury Department. He did not name Geithner personally, but neither did he say Geithner was unaware of the goings on. The bottom line: Dodd, after denying it, now admits he and the administration cooked up the language which afforded AIG some protection ( until the firestorm hit) to grant the bonuses. Geithner has been claiming a fair amount of ignorance — and certainly did not come clean on this.

So Dodd lied, repeatedly and apparently by reflex, about this(also counting on the media to help out I don't doubt); what else is he lying about? And will we get the truth about his little mortgage deals and the Irish 'cottage'?

And that wonderful example of a pimple on the ass of this country Rep. Murtha(Evil Party Slimeball-PA) thinks he has a privilege to steal your money via earmarks:
U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, responded by waving the Constitution at the camera, saying: “What it says is the Congress of the United States appropriates the money. Got that?”
What we got, Murtha, is you're a slandering little bastard who needs to be thrown out of that office.

They're running the place, folks, and are really pissed when we find out what they're up to; and even more pissed when we dare to call them on their crooked deals.

Two things to note: first, the Missouri HP may need to

be a bit more careful with their training materials:
COLUMBIA, Mo. | A new document meant to help Missouri law enforcement agencies identify militia members or domestic terrorists has drawn criticism for some of the warning signs mentioned.

The Feb. 20 report called "The Modern Militia Movement" mentions such red flags as political bumper stickers for third-party candidates, such as U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who ran for president last year; talk of conspiracy theories, such as the plan for a superhighway linking Canada to Mexico; and possession of subversive literature.
One question here: what do they define as 'subversive literature'?

Second, Bill Ayers is a chickenshit coward:
It’s been quite a turnaround for Bill Ayers. The Communist terrorist who planned bombings of police stations, in order to inflict maximum injury and death on police officers, is now depending on the police at the University of Illinois, where he is a “distinguished” professor, to protect him from the tough questions of students' parents. In fact, one parent who presented Ayers with a Bible and a copy of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged was arrested last Thursday night and charged with the curious offense of somehow interfering with university affairs. A visibly-nervous Ayers accepted the books but quickly placed them down on a table.
...
According to Lt. Roy Acree of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Police Department, parent Mark Thompson was arrested on a charge of “interference with a public institution of higher education” because of his activity at the Ayers lecture. Ironically, the statute (720 ILCS 5/Art. 21.2 heading) was passed "in recognition of unlawful campus disorders across the nation," which is precisely what Ayers and his comrades in the Students for a Democratic Society were doing on college campuses in the 1960s.
Translation: "He made Ayers uncomfortable, so we arrested him." I say that because
Acree told AIM that Thompson had said that he figured his actions would get him arrested, and that he apologized to the police officers who arrested him later. Still, what did Thompson do that broke the law?

“I wasn’t there,” Acree said, although he did watch the incident on YouTube. “I felt like at that time that Thompson was at the point of interrupting the speaker, who was an invited guest of the university, and was preventing the speaker from speaking.”

But the video seems to show that the meeting was breaking up at that point.

Delta Bravo Sierra

Take a look

I note, son told me that the dogs troops adopted quickly developed a very simple outlook: if you wore ACUs, you were good people; if you did not, or they didn't know your smell from when you did wear them... you'd better keep your distance.

Oooh, Pres. B. Cartman Obama 'heard the concerns'

and changed his mind:
“President Obama listened to the genuine concerns expressed by the veteran service organizations regarding the option of billing service-connected injuries to veterans’ insurance companies,” said Pelosi. “Based on the respect President Obama has for veterans and the principle concerns of our veteran leaders, the president made the decision that combat wounds should not be billed through their insurance policies.”
Translation: "Barkey has been hearing from Reps and Senators who have pissed-off people informing them of the easy availability of tar, feathers and rope, and decided he can't get away with it."
Now, that's not a very, ah, generous interpretation, is it? Let's remind ourselves why:
“It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”
and
“I got the distinct impression that the only hope of this plan not being enacted,” said Commander Rehbein, “is for an alternative plan to be developed that would generate the desired $540-million in revenue.
Ah, but that was yesterday. Before President I Spit On The Troops found out just how pissed of people were at the idea. Especially after his 'no earmarks' 9000-earmark spending bill with billions for his favorite vote-fraud organization.

I repeat what I said yesterday: this president has no honor, and is undeserving of respect.

Looks like the 'destroy the brass and sell as scrap' order

has been lifted. According to this,
- Prior to 11/2008, Demil B items required no mutilation for sale to the public. That policy changed in November, but several exceptions were granted. Expended munitions brass was one of those given a waiver.
- Enter the new administration. Since Demil B category items had been given a broad, general label as “national security sensitive” someone above the DRMS (likely in the DLA) reviewed the policy and immediately went with a CYA policy and yanked all exemptions. No thoughts or considerations were given to the implications of this policy change, but this directive was issued to DOD Surplus effective immediately last week.
- Shit storm blows up as a result. In particular, the letters, phone calls, and emails to our legislators, the media, and anyone else who would listen caused this policy to be review post haste.
- As of this morning our company was informed that expended munitions brass will now be reclassified as Demil Q –– which requires no mutilation unless sold to a foreign country.

I certainly hope this is all it was, a CYA move. Unfortunately, I do have to wonder if it was more of a "Let's see if we can get away with this" action; it wouldn't surprise me if it was. Which definitely says something about the level of trust I have in the gummint nowadays.

Range day: M1 Garand

among other things. I'll try to do a more in-depth post later, for now I'll just cover the basic:
The H&R M1, with the exception of one round that seems to have been out-of-spec and caused a jam, performed well. It did demonstrate a definite preference for the Greek HXP ball over the Korean PS; much better accuracy, and it was one of the PS that caused the jam.

It was a warm day, and the benches are partly in the sun with it at this angle; usually does a good job of telling you how much degreasing the wood needs. Happily, there was not a lot of bleed; apparently this one was never packed in cosmoline or it was cleaned very well at some point. I can see some places on the inside that seem to have some oil soaked in, but not much, so cleaning it shouldn't be bad.

Touching again on the current ammo/components situation, in the past there's been a fair amount of rifle brass to pick up; not the last couple of times. Very little .30-06 and whatever left behind, and most of that is berdan-primed stuff. A fair amount of handgun brass on that side, but not as much as before.

On the way home stopped by Gene Sears in El Reno to take a look around. Lots of ammo sold out, fairly good shape on most components exept primers; I got the last brick of standard small pistol they had, and they say primers are one of the more difficult things to keep in stock right now. Just like a lot of other places; the reloading shop at H&H said the same thing a few days back and were also down to magnum small pistol primers only.

More later; things to clean, dog to scratch, tea to drink.

And, following in the Soviet footsteps of needing control

over everything,
Will Congress kill farmers' markets?
What this will do is force anyone who produces food of any kind, and then transports it to a different location for sale, to register with a new federal agency called the "Food Safety Administration." Hmmmmm? (Via a TennZen tweet)

Interesting. A co-sponsor's husband has Monsanto as a client.

Naw, no improper influence there, not at all......

'Transparency', 'End to Secrets',

my ass.
Now President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology.

The Obama administration this past week diverted some $2 million from the pilot training program to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots.
Really shouldn't be a surprise; Pres. B. Cartman Obama despises gun owners of all kinds who don't have a badge or a federal ID card. 'Inspections of pilots' for BS like this:
Take a case against one flight officer who had visited the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles within the last few weeks. While there, the pilot noticed that federal law enforcement officers can, with the approval of a superior, obtain a license plate that cannot be traced, a key safety feature for law enforcement personnel. So the pilot asked if, as a member of the federal program, he was eligible. The DMV staffer checked and said “no.” The next day administrative actions were brought against the pilot for “misrepresenting himself.” These are the kinds of cases that President Obama wants to investigate.
Hey, any excuse works to screw with something/somebody he doesn't like; he wants to crap all over wounded vets, why should pilots and other flight deck personnel be any different?
Since Mr. Obama's election, pilots have told us that the approval process for letting pilots carry guns on planes slowed significantly. Last week the problem went from bad to worse. Federal Flight Deck Officers - the pilots who have been approved to carry guns - indicate that the approval process has stalled out.

Pilots cannot openly speak about the changing policies for fear of retaliation from the Transportation Security Administration. Pilots who act in any way that causes a “loss of confidence” in the armed pilot program risk criminal prosecution as well as their removal from the program. Despite these threats, pilots in the Federal Flight Deck Officers program have raised real concerns in multiple interviews.

We remember the kinds of absolute garbage that Minetta and Madoff, the Fascist Twins(why yes, I am name-calling) put pilots through for even applying for the program, and how they worked to make it as difficult as possible to get through it; now Obama is taking this step. And, as befits a man who promised 'openness' and 'transparency', doing it as quietly as possible, hoping to sneak it through before people notice.

Hope! and Change! folks, this is it.

I could have gone out partying tonight,

but a few things have come more to my attention over the years. In no particular order,

Going out with a friend or two is great; going to a bar on a night like this, being packed in with a bunch of people trying to get drunk in short order and with a noise level that wouldn't be tolerated in a foundry without ear protection, is not.

I like a drink at times: see above about drinking with a bunch of idiots. Plus I'd like to get home without an impromptu meeting with a signpost or lamppost(if you knock the latter down, that's one less to hang a politician from).

Music and friends on St. Patrick's is wonderful; see #1 above, plus the fact it doesn't seem quite the right attitude for the day.

Last, yeah, I could get laid tonight. I'm not amazingly ugly, and I do know how the game is played(I'm just not good at it): buy some drinks and say the right words and I could get someone into bed, especially on a night involving #1 above. Don't do that for the same reason I don't go to nookie bars and buy table dances: if a lady is going to be wiggling in my lap, I want it to be because she chooses to be there, not as part of a business arrangement. In this context, if a lady shares my bed I want her there by liking and choice, not because she depressed her higher-reasoning abilities by getting drunk off her ass.

So I made some soda bread(first time in a while), built a fire in the chiminea and scratched the dogs' ears for a while, and I'll have a drink in a bit. Not real exciting, but my ears aren't ringing, I'm not feeling like puking and I won't wake up thinking "Ahhh, who is she?"

My exciting life; welcome to it.

Back to idiot book illustrations,

if only because it'll keep certain things(from Tam: Oh, wait, this isn't a deficiency of "heart", it's a deficiency of "honor" and "responsibility", neither of which are to be found in quantities fit to fill a teacup at 1600 Penna., apparently. ) from causing my head to rotate like a MRAP cupola in an ambush, Marja had a comment on that post, in part:
...I'd like to add one more thing: most of those heroines have a pretty big, er, bosom. Which will make running around with no support actually painful. Not to mention the fact that the ladies in question are going to be having a more or less droopy pair in record time.
I have, over the years, known a few rather well-endowed ladies, and they had one thing in common if nothing else: they'd rather have stood and fought with fingernails than run without some kind of support or binding for the girls. Once saw a girl, maybe 18, who may well have had more boobs than brains running with no bra; damn, that even looked painful!

Back to the covers, it's like seeing the cover on a book from The General series, and finding that it has little or no relation to what's actually in the story. Kind of like the Conan movies and comic books and book covers: they show him running around half-to-mostly bare- even in the freaking desert!- by choice; but if you actually read Howard's stories, he wears clothing and armor and the only time he'll be running around in a breechclout is if something/someone chased him out of his room/camp without time to grab his gear. And he remedies that as soon as possible.

Marta, come back anytime, and speak your piece.

Since we're on the subject of illustrations, Atomic Nerds pointed to a comic I've not heard of before: Hereville. I'd say a Jewish Buffy, but that's not quite right. I'm going to have to make time to read more of it.

President B. Cartman Obama has now officially gone from my former opinion

to "You miserable shit."
The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization says he is “deeply disappointed and concerned” after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.

“It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”

The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, “This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘ to care for him who shall have borne the battle’ given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America’s veterans!”

Ever have a time when you're sitting, or standing, and the rage is building to the point your hands shake, and you can feel your pulse hammering? I'm having one of those moments right now. That this miserable little bastard and his socialist flying monkeys plan to betray those wounded fighting for this country in this way... there are no words to properly describe this. They can demand hundreds of billions be stolen from our kids and grandkids, and now they plan on screwing wounded troops for this..../. so they can get more money to spend on some 'social' program intended to buy votes in the next elections.

If Shinseki doesn't resign, he marks himself as nothing more than a politicians suckup, willing to crap on the people who used to serve under him for the sake of being patted on the head. And Obama? You've shown yourself to be without honor, without respect, and completely undeserving of respect.

After Brigid made me make indian tacos*,

that started making me think of other bake-stuff, so after I got home today I made a batch(loaf? pan?) of focaccia. That and some balsamic vinegar and spiced olive oil... Yes, I did refrain from eating the whole damn thing. With effort.

Nice think about it is it takes maybe two minutes of kneading, and the rest is rising, so it's easy. Makes pretty good sandwiches, too.

Which reminds me, son is currently at a base in the southwestern US, and it seems nobody in the unit- or in town from what he said- every heard of Indian tacos. So he dug up a recipe(just before his pc crashed; it survived Iraq and about two months) and made his own, making the guys he shared with very happy.

Thinking about it, I'm glad it's now too late to start cooking; fry bread and honey...

Dammit, now Breda's talking about bread, too. That's one fine-looking burger she's torturing me withshowing. I used to have a bread machine, which was very handy as it saved all the kneading by hand. I'd usually let it do the work, then dump the dough into a regular pan to final-rise and bake so I didn't have bread with a hole in the bottom from the mixing paddle. I may have to get another, one of these days. Burgers with fresh-baked buns... no, dammit, it IS too late to start all that.

As a side point, Kevin has more on the idiot idea to scrap once-fired brass instead of selling it whole; besides the other points, it'll lose the gummint a bunch of money. Fine idea, isn't it?


*Yeah, she made me; she wrote about it, and her toppings, and I just had to have some!

Dumbass/Dishonest(take your pick) Ruben Navarrette

makes big stink with "We're causing it!" myth, Kevin takes him apart. Among other parts:

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates that 90% of the firearms confiscated in drug crimes in Mexico come from the United States, and some of the shipments can be enormous.
Which again illustrates graphically that the BATFE is a whirling vortex of suck at DOING THEIR JOB, doesn't it? Instead of investigating "straw purchases" etc., they seem to spend an extraordinary amount of time screwing with manufacturers after changing the rules on them without warning, or pursuing typographical errors instead of, you know, known criminals because, I suspect, legitimate businessmen (unlike drug dealers) don't shoot at you when you screw with them.
and

That was all it took. Those who love their guns more than their neighbor to the south were eager to believe CNN's Lou Dobbs when he declared: "Attorney General Eric Holder is willing to sacrifice our gun ownership rights under the Constitution for the benefit of a foreign government, in this case Mexico."

And here's the second fundamental flaw of The Other Side - the belief that if you don't agree with them you must be EEEEEVIL! Note the comparison: If we don't believe in "gun control" then we "love our guns" more than we "love our neighbor to the south."
Etc. Go read it, it'll do you good.

Gee, so they're not buying RPGs at gun shows?

Wow, I that that was a settled consensus, like globular warmering...
Reporting from Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and Mexico City -- It was a brazen assault, not just because it targeted the city's police station, but for the choice of weapon: grenades.

The Feb. 21 attack on police headquarters in coastal Zihuatanejo, which injured four people, fit a disturbing trend of Mexico's drug wars. Traffickers have escalated their arms race, acquiring military-grade weapons, including hand grenades, grenade launchers, armor-piercing munitions and antitank rockets with firepower far beyond the assault rifles and pistols that have dominated their arsenals.

Most of these weapons are being smuggled from Central American countries or by sea, eluding U.S. and Mexican monitors who are focused on the smuggling of semiauto- matic and conventional weapons purchased from dealers in the U.S. border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

Yes, the article still hits the talking points that 'most of the problem up to now is due to lax US gun laws', etc. ad blargh. But:
These groups appear to be taking advantage of a robust global black market and porous borders, especially between Mexico and Guatemala. Some of the weapons are left over from the wars that the United States helped fight in Central America, U.S. officials said.
Damn, they actually pointed out an Inconvenient Truth: It Ain't Our Fault.

How many weapons have been smuggled into Mexico from Central America is not known, and the military-grade munitions are still a small fraction of the larger arsenal in the hands of narcotics traffickers. Mexican officials continue to push Washington to stem the well-documented flow of conventional weapons from the United States, as Congress holds hearings on the role those smuggled guns play in arming Mexican drug cartels.
As has been pointed out before, this is bullcrap. And if it's not, why won't the Mexican government supply the serial numbers of weapons they've seized to the US government? If the guns were 'legally' bought here and smuggled into Mexico, the serial numbers would tell exactly who imported or manufactured them, and what dealer sold them; so the only reason for the Mex government to refuse to supply them is they know they didn't come from here. And giving us the numbers would prove it; and since blaming us is so handy for that government...

And now we get to the real meat:
The enhanced weaponry represents a wide sampling from the international arms bazaar, with grenades and launchers produced by U.S., South Korean, Israeli, Spanish or former Soviet bloc manufacturers. Many had been sold legally to governments, including Mexico's, and then were diverted onto the black market. Some may be sold directly to the traffickers by corrupt elements of national armies, authorities and experts say.
And there it is. Those Barrett rifles that are supposedly so 'easily' being smuggled into Mexico?(maybe we need a fence, huh?) Remember this picture?

I'm doing it, I'd suggest you contact your congresscritters and point out this article, in particular the parts noting that this crap isn't coming from US gun shops and shows.