Gunfight outside my house today.

[rpilottx]

Agree about Social Institutions

Agree about Social Institutions

Agreed, the social/legal institutions in Mexico are corrupt and the common citizen does not really know which side the police are on. This is one of the main reason El Paso is safe and Juarez is not.

 

[PKR]

Well, it's not much safer here in Northern California. A good friend has a 40 acre plot and home on a mountain top in the South Bay Area, about 1 1/2 hours south of San Francisco. He awoke one morning to a lot of gun fire. There were two groups, both with automatic weapons. One group passed by his kitchen window running and firing. Moments later, a second group dressed in military gear chased after them, also shooting. The second group was followed by a very, very low flying helicopter. He said the action was lass than 10-20 feet from the window. Nothing was reported in the press. No one stopped to tell him what was going on. He's only guessing the the second group were DEA. But he doesn't know for sure. They both may have been bad guys. He's in a very remote area. All solar power and he's the internet supplier for the neighbors in his area.

It's hard to find a really safe place these days.

 

[bobby_novatron]

Roberto -- glad to hear you're OK. I love Mexico -- the people, the history, the natural beauty. I have been to Mexico many times over the past 20 years. The stories I read in the media about the drug war really sadden my heart.

A small amount of fuel to add to the debate: my wife is a lawyer -- a full-time criminal prosecutor. She said if alcohol and drugs were *magically* banned from society, 90% of her work would dry up. The majority of violent crimes and property crimes are tied to alcohol -- and mountains of money flow to criminal gangs because of drugs. They are separate issues, but related.

In my region of Canada, one of the largest multi-billion dollar industries is cannabis cultivation. It is larger than forestry, mining, or many other industries. A lot of the money goes to well-organized and well-armed criminal gangs. It is a massive joke. None of the politicians have the balls to do much about it, besides build more prisons.

 

[Keith]

Meanwhile over at the GDV (Guns, Drugs and Violence) forum I'm sure they're having a rousing discussion on the virtues of film over digital!

... though it may end a bit differently to our little spats! 😀


On a more serious note I'm very glad you didn't stop a bullet Roberto. 🙂

 

[Leica All Day]

My mother lives within sight of the border near Juarez. Several years ago I bought her a .22 pistol to use against snakes, but a couple years ago I got her an AK-47. The nearest sheriffs office is 50 miles away, and even on a emergency call, it takes them forever to arrive.

that has to be the coolest thing that I have ever read on here.....

cheers, michael

 

[bob338]

next time, GET IN THE TUB! it's the safest place to be when bullets are flying.

bob

 

[Roberto V.]

It is curious to me that you know different reports from various firearms. I'm guessing that you are ex-military/police, use to live in a country where their citizen had some level of freedom and right to self protection, or that you are just taking a wild guess.

I'm guessing based on what I've heard or fired before. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, the Zetas had already been looking for someone a couple of months ago. They were armed with AK's. As you know they are widely used for this sort of stuff. There was another automatic gun of a smaller caliber being shot at the time, so my guess was 5.56, probably the army firing their G36's, M4s, or maybe even the other cartel members.

Meanwhile over at the GDV (Guns, Drugs and Violence) forum I'm sure they're having a rousing discussion on the virtues of film over digital!

... though it may end a bit differently to our little spats! 😀


On a more serious note I'm very glad you didn't stop a bullet Roberto. 🙂

Thanks Keith. You really made me laugh with the film vs. digital comment 😀

next time, GET IN THE TUB! it's the safest place to be when bullets are flying.

bob

Will do. Thanks Bob.



Everything seems to be back to normal today. I went downtown to have lunch with some friends, and I saw some unusual movement, but I might still be a little paranoid 😛. I also passed a military checkpoint. Apart from that, everything seems normal.
Also, a few houses on my block now sport brand new bullet holes.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Michael Markey]

Glad that you`re safe Rob.
Can`t help on the gun aspect ...they only shoot them in fields `round here and you only need to be worried if you`re a rabbit.