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NBC's Mark Potter continues to make the narcotrafficking gang wars in Mexico his signature story. Of the 14 reports that he has filed so far in 2009, half have been just on the narcotics beat. His latest feature was an In Depth report from the border at Laredo where customs officials are now inspecting traffic as it leaves the country heading south, looking for firearms and cash. Potter set up dueling soundbites between the National Rifle Association and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms. The NRA claims that suspicions that the drug cartels are armed by weapons purchased in the United States and smuggled south are "exaggerated to support more gun control." The BATF counters that 90% of firearms found in Mexico are "US sourced."
UPDATE: In his latest PressThink post, entitled Lame Formula in the Land of the Active User, Jay Rosen, an old friend of Tyndall Report, skewers the type of presentation of the NRA-BATF argument that Potter used. Rosen argues that He Said-She Said must be followed by We Said--what does NBC News conclude, having heard both sides? Is the focus on gun smuggling a mere pretext for a domestic gun control political agenda? Or do Second Amendment freedoms in this country truly enable mayhem south of the border?
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