Probably any American who is at all interested in arms and RKBA issues is well aware that Mexico (and the Obama administration) is trying to blame the United States for arming the bloody drug cartels in Mexico. We know this is the official, party line, but I now have validation that Mexicans actually believe this drivel.

We have a house guest this week: my wife's second cousin, who is a Ph.D. and a university professor. He is a really engaging guy, quite charming, extremely intelligent ... and the stereotypical "effete intellectual snob." We have not directly discussed politics so I can't say whether he's a liberal, a conservative, or something else. But I digress ...

The guy is fluent in English, Spanish, and French, conversational in Italian, and has a rudimentary knowledge of German. For the past several years, he has been teaching at a university in Mexico City. Somehow the other evening the topic of guns and drug cartels in Mexico popped up, and he said something about how it was too bad the 2nd Amendment meant that the Mexican drug cartels could get all those guns.

So I asked him if he had ANY idea how impossible that is. He gave me a deer-in-headlights look, so I gave him the Cliff's Notes version. I reminded him that I own a couple of firearms and that I have a carry permit (which he knew from my wife). Then I explained to him that in order to get the carry permit I had to take an all-day class, submit my fingerprints to the local police (who then send them to the state police and to the FBI), pass a criminal record background check, and THEN I get a permit. With the permit, I can purchase a firearm the same day, but each purchase gets called in to the state police for a background check clearance before the sale can proceed. I then explained that if I didn't have a carry permit, each purchase of a firearm would be subject to a waiting period before I could take the gun home.

He had no idea.

Then I explained to him that the rifles we can buy over-the-counter are at best semi-automatic. I had to explain to him the difference between a full-auto and a semi-auto ... at least he is smart enough to comprehend that. But when I explained that the cartels in Mexico have mostly full-auto, military grade weapons and that for me to buy ONE of those would require an entire new level of application, and a separate permit (yes, I know it's a tax stamp and not a permit) for EACH firearm ... he REALLY got a deer-in-headlights look. It finally dawned on him that the Mexican government is lying to the Mexican people (who'd a thunk it?) ... and that he had bought into the lies, hook, line and sinker.

I think he got it. The unanswered question is whether he cares enough to go back to Mexico City and straighten out some of his intelligentsia colleagues. My bet is that he won't.

It sounds like you made a great start at overcoming his cultural biases. Well done.

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I almost forgot. One thing I do with my non-gun friends and acquaintances is to try to establish myself as the "go-to guy" on gun issues. I try to encourage them to ask questions, to which I try to give thoughtful, balanced answers -- documented when possible. I hope to lay a foundation so that when something gun related comes up, they come to me to at least get my perspective. My goal is to not leave them at the mercy of the media and all the misinformation that gets bandied about.

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For every cliche there's an equal and opposite cliche.