{"id":2404554,"date":"2025-02-20T08:33:58","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T13:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/designating-cartels-terrorists-isnt-worrisome-to-u-s-gunmakers\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T08:35:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T13:35:20","slug":"designating-cartels-terrorists-isnt-worrisome-to-u-s-gunmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/designating-cartels-terrorists-isnt-worrisome-to-u-s-gunmakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Designating Cartels Terrorists Isn&#8217;t &#8216;Worrisome&#8217; To U.S. Gunmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdesignating-cartels-terrorists-isnt-worrisome-to-u-s-gunmakers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2404554&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses President Donald Trump&#8217;s \u2064decision too officially designate several Mexican drug \u2063cartels, including Tren de \u2062Aragua and MS-13, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kentucky-ag-slams-state-department-for-failing-to-halt-fentanyl-crisis\/\" title=\"KY AG criticizes State Dept. for not stopping fentanyl crisis.\">foreign \u200dterrorist organizations<\/a>. This move is framed as part \u2063of Trump&#8217;s\u200d campaign promise to combat drug-related violence, which has resulted\u200b in\u2063 meaningful loss of life in both Mexico and the United States, \u200dnotably due to \u2063fentanyl. The \u200dpiece \u2064critiques Bloomberg Opinion columnist Juan Pablo Spinetto&#8217;s opposition to this designation, highlighting his concerns about potential collateral consequences, such as implicating innocent parties \u200bwith ties \u200cto the cartels.<\/p>\n<p>The author \u2064argues against Spinetto&#8217;s claims regarding the U.S. firearm industry, asserting that American firearms\u2063 are\u2063 heavily regulated and not sold to criminals. It emphasizes that\u200b most weapons used by Mexican cartels come from \u2064illicit sources, including theft and corruption, rather than from legal U.S. sales, discrediting Spinetto&#8217;s assertions as misleading.\u2063 The article also contrasts Trump&#8217;s tough \u2063stance on \u2062cartels with\u2063 the \u200cprevious Mexican governance&#8217;s leniency and suggests that ongoing \u2064U.S. legal actions against American firearm manufacturers by the mexican government are misguided distractions from the \u200creal \u2063issues of cartel-driven \u200bviolence.<\/p>\n<p>the piece supports Trump\u2019s actions as necessary for national security\u2062 and highlights the complexities surrounding gun \u200dcontrol \u2062and cartel violence, while calling\u2064 for accountability from the Mexican \u2064government for their own\u200d issues with crime and\u2063 corruption.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>President Donald Trump&rsquo;s State Department has <a href=\"https:\/\/public-inspection.federalregister.gov\/2025-02873.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">officially designated<\/a> several murderous drug cartels, including Tren de Aragua and MS-13, as foreign terrorist organizations. Bloomberg Opinion columnist Juan Pablo Spinetto <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/opinion\/articles\/2025-01-23\/trump-will-regret-designating-narcos-as-terrorists\">labeled<\/a> that decision &ldquo;worrying&rdquo; while attempting to argue against the president&rsquo;s move.<\/p>\n<p>Never mind the thousands of lives lost every year to drug cartel violence in both Mexico and the United States. Pay no attention to the more than <a href=\"https:\/\/usafacts.org\/articles\/are-fentanyl-overdose-deaths-rising-in-the-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">250,000 American deaths since 2018<\/a> from illegal drug use by fentanyl smuggled into the United States from Mexico across a virtually open Biden-era border. Disregard that after four years of woeful inaction by an American president barely at the steering wheel, the new Trump administration is following through with the campaign promises he made to the American people to protect them from such violence. Spinetto has other concerns.<\/p>\n<p>While describing to readers why, in his determination, President Trump&rsquo;s move forward to label Mexican narco-terrorist drug cartels as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heres-the-1-republican-who-voted-against-funding-israels-iron-dome\/\" title=\"Here\u2019s The 1 Republican Who Voted Against Funding Israel\u2019s Iron Dome\">international terrorist organizations<\/a> would be &ldquo;worrisome,&rdquo; Spinetto takes an uninformed and bogus potshot at the lawful and highly-regulated U.S. firearm industry.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The proposal to treat cartels as terrorists &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">adds significant collateral risks<\/a>: Anyone who has contacts with narcos, knowingly or not, could be accused of collaborating with terrorists, from avocado producers in Michoac&aacute;n that pay to stay alive to the US gun industry that has been selling arms to criminals,&rdquo; Spinetto writes. The assertion that U.S. firearm manufacturers &ldquo;sell arms to criminals&rdquo; is a flat-out lie.<\/p>\n<p>Mexico, of course, has no Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for its citizens and the one and only firearm retailer in the country is in the heart of Mexico City, located on a military base. Firearms legally exported from the United States to the Mexican military have gone through rigorous and thorough end-to-end security checks, attempting to ensure that American-made guns do not fall into the hands of anyone else, especially the cartels. <\/p>\n<p>After all, there are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/border\/2022\/01\/04\/report-mexican-army-loses-30-of-weapons-purchased-from-u-s\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">documented reports<\/a> of Mexican soldiers defecting to work for narco-terrorist drug cartels, bringing with them over 150,000 firearms stolen from Mexican armories.&nbsp;Virtually all of the firearms used by the Mexican drug cartels, on the other hand, are illicitly possessed illegal arms unlawfully smuggled into Mexico by a network of drug cartels, through theft or straight-up government corruption. These facts are well known. Spinetto knows all of this too, of course, but the facts are inconvenient for his argument.<\/p>\n<p>President Trump campaigned on ending the violence and crime coming from Mexico, whether it be smuggled drugs or criminal gang violence. Trump won in a landslide on Election Day, and he is carrying through on those promises. Formally declaring the murderous drug cartels in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations gives him more tools to bring a stop to the violence.<\/p>\n<p>President Trump&rsquo;s Executive Order where he originally proposed the designation made it clear where he stands.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable alliance with the government of Mexico. The government of Mexico has afforded safe havens for the cartels to engage in the manufacturing and transportation of dangerous narcotics, which collectively have led to the overdose deaths of hundreds of thousands of American victims. This alliance endangers the national security of the United States, and we must eradicate the influence of these dangerous cartels,&rdquo; the White House <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/fact-sheets\/2025\/02\/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fact Sheet states<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Mexico&rsquo;s previous president, Andr&eacute;s Manuel L&oacute;pez Obrador, did little to address his country&rsquo;s violence, pursuing instead his &ldquo;hugs, not bullets&rdquo; approach that treated the cartels with kid gloves, a policy instituted after he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/mexico-amlo-lopez-obrador-campaign-drug-cartels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly took campaign contributions<\/a> from drug cartels. He also <a href=\"https:\/\/bearingarms.com\/camedwards\/2021\/08\/04\/mexico-launches-10-billion-lawsuit-against-u-s-gun-makers-n48434\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">oversaw the filing<\/a> of a frivolous $10 billion lawsuit by the Mexican government, working in tandem with U.S.-based gun control activists, to sue law-abiding U.S. firearm manufacturers. <\/p>\n<p>President Claudia Sheinbaum doesn&rsquo;t seem to be changing any strategies and is laughably making new threats against President Trump and the U.S. firearm industry should he continue carrying out his promises. Following Spinetto&rsquo;s lead, she had the audacity to threaten to expand Mexico&rsquo;s lawfare against U.S. firearm manufacturers to claim the industry was giving material aid to foreign terrorists. That&rsquo;s rich coming from the government that provides &ldquo;safe haven&rdquo; to her country&rsquo;s narco-terrorists.<\/p>\n<p>The facts are clear. It is not the U.S. firearm industry that is aiding Mexico&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-gubernatorial-challenger-says-abbott-is-failing-to-protect-texans-from-illegal-migration\/\" title=\"Texas Gubernatorial Challenger Says Abbott Is Failing To Protect Texans From Illegal Migration\">narco-terrorist cartels<\/a> and allowing them to commit heinous acts of violence upon the Mexican people. Firearm manufacturers in the United States are strictly regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Even during the Biden administration, with all the other attacks against the firearm industry, there was never a hint, nor allegation, of transnational arms smuggling by U.S. firearm manufacturers.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit by Mexico against U.S. firearm manufacturers is a distraction, and I am confident it will be thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court. Lawful U.S. firearm manufacturers are not responsible for Mexican crime and violence. For those answers, Mexico must answer to their own government corruption by cartel influence.<\/p>\n<p>In the unlikely event Mexico&rsquo;s case is not dismissed, President Sheinbaum would do well to remember that discovery in civil litigation in America goes both ways. President Trump is responsible for the safety and security of the American people. His strong actions to move forward in combating Mexican drug cartels are proof he&rsquo;s taking that responsibility seriously and the American people support him doing so.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Lawrence G. Keane is a senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congressman-jamie-raskin-wants-to-tax-your-guns-if-he-cant-ban-them\/\" title=\"Congressman Jamie Raskin Wants To Tax Your Guns If He Can\u2019t Ban Them\">firearms industry trade association<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump&#8217;s State Department labeled drug cartels as terrorists, prompting criticism<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2013,"featured_media":2404555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screen-Shot-2025-02-19-at-1.48.05-PM-1024x582.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[13819,43202,13693,4780,45593],"class_list":["post-2404554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cartels","tag-firearms-industry","tag-gunmakers","tag-terrorists","tag-us-policy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screen-Shot-2025-02-19-at-1.48.05-PM-1024x582.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2013"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2404554"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2404558,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404554\/revisions\/2404558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2404555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2404554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2404554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2404554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}