Project Gunrunner/Fast and Furious Update

Since it's being largely ignored by the legacy media, it's a relief to see that the ATF's gun-running operation of weapons into Mexico and its drug cartels is gaining some traction with members of Congress.

A controversial program by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that tried to track illegal weapons sales shows the need for tougher gun laws, according to a report issued Thursday by a House Democrat.

Wait, what?

Entitled "Outgunned," the report released by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, quoted law enforcement officers on how lax or nonexistent laws and regulations on so-called "straw" purchases of illegal weapons, firearms trafficking and monitoring of the sales of assault rifles and other long guns contributed to the thriving trafficking of illegal weapons to Mexico.

The report is an attempt by Cummings and other Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to raise the issue of gun control in the investigation of "Operation Fast and Furious," the ATF program that focused on following people who legally bought weapons that were then transferred to criminals and destined for Mexico.

Instead of intercepting the weapons when they switched hands, Operation Fast and Furious called for ATF agents to let the guns "walk" and wait for them to surface in Mexico, according to the House committee.

The idea was that once the weapons in Mexico were traced back to the straw purchasers, the entire arms smuggling network could be brought down. Instead, the committee argued, letting the weapons slip into the wrong hands was a deadly miscalculation that resulted in preventable deaths, including that of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

The Democratic report issued Thursday said committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa of California prevented questions about the need for stronger gun control laws at a June 15 hearing on the ATF operation.

"Despite the chairman's efforts to wall off any discussion of the nation's gun laws, the record compiled during the committee's investigation documents clearly that these same law enforcement agents believe that their efforts to combat international drug cartels would be enhanced significantly with common-sense improvements in several key areas," the report said.

This is some sort of sick joke, right?

Cummings is using the opportunity of a rogue government operation that has resulted in the deaths of two U.S. federal agents and an unknown quantity of Mexican agents and citizens to politicize the gun control debate.

The very agency that is stood-up to prevent the flow of guns back and forth across the border is essentially running the weapons themselves and this somehow proves we need stricter gun control laws?

For you conspiracy theorists out there that believe Fast and Furious was set up by the ATF, the Justice Department and Homeland Security in the first place to help make a better case for stricter gun control laws, Cummings is certainly making your case, isn't he?