Sunday, September 20, 2009

Este Gobierno de Criminales

CNN reports on the shooting which took place in the Mexico City subway. The video was a disappointment, but the story is interesting.

Mexican authorities deployed more than 1,000 additional police officers to reinforce security at the capital's 175 subway stations on Saturday, a day after a shooting inside a station left two people dead and eight injured at the height of evening rush hour.

The shooting at the Balderas station in central Mexico City happened after police stopped Luis Felipe Hernandez Castillo, 38, from writing graffiti on the wall of one of the subway platforms.

Five of the injured suffered gunshot wounds, and three others were hurt by the stampeding crowds, officials said.

Hernandez Castillo was writing "Este gobierno de criminales," or "this government of criminals," Mexico City district attorney Miguel Angel Mancera said. As police tried to stop him, Hernandez Castillo drew a .38 special handgun and began firing.

I partly agree with the commenters who say, who cares what happens in Mexico. But several things came to mind when reading this story.

I wondered if the police who "tried to stop him" from writing the graffiti were objecting to the fact that he was writing or to the content of what he was writing. What do you think? Is the accusation that the government is a bunch of criminals something the police might take personally?

The fact that he had a gun on him is also of interest. I'm sure it probably came from a gun dealer in Phoenix or Houston - that's really a joke, although it could be the case. Certainly there's nothing in the story to indicate it. But, the fact that he had a gun is interesting because of the conflicting arguments I hear from the pro-gun crowd. Sometimes they say the strict gun control laws in Mexico don't work and this case would be proof. Other times they say the strict gun control laws in Mexico accomplish disarming the people and preventing them from defending themselves. Mr. Hernandez Castillo certainly disproves that one.

It turns out that Felipe Hernandez Castillo has obvious mental problems.

Hernandez Castillo also told investigators that he believed a great famine would come, and he travelled to Mexico City to relay a message.
Hernandez Castillo said he opened fire because he saw the police as a threat to his task of writing on the wall.

The other thing that comes to mind is the all-too-frequent disaster that happens when people have guns, when gun availability is like it is. In spite of the laws, like in the U.S., if someone wants to carry a gun in Mexico, I guess they can. The results this time, two dead and eight wounded.

What's your opinion? Why do the Mexican gun laws not work? Is there a different reason there than here in the United States? What's your opinion?

Please feel free to leave a comment.

6 comments:

  1. "Why do the Mexican gun laws not work?"

    For the same reason American, Canadian, and British gun laws don't work: Criminals don't obey the law.

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  2. That may be true, AztecRed. But more likely the Canadian, British and Mexican laws have been a hodge podge of ill-enforced and impossible-to-enforce laws that differ from region to region, just like ours.

    You're repeating the NRA mantra about criminals not obeying the laws. It was thoroughly refuted in Henigan's book, chapter 2. You should broaden your reading.

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  3. Sort of like Lott refuted "More Guns = More Crime"? You really should expand your horizons. Or do you only trust "experts" that are for gun control?

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  4. I don't know about British and Canadian law, but Mexican gun laws are uniform from region to region. In fact, Mexico only has one gun store and it's run by the government.

    As for Dennis Henigan's book, if it's like everything else he's written, i'd take it with an extremely large grain of salt.

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  5. Good point, Reputo. I do tend to trust gun control guys more, simply because they have less at stake and would be more likely to be unbiased. Gun enthusiasts have a lot to be biased about.

    But, you're right I need to read different sources just like I reccomend to others.

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  6. "would be more likely to be unbiased"

    They have plenty to be biased about. They're paychecks depend on it.
    Of course you also consider the FBI/BATFE/DOJ to be 'biased'.

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