The powerful Knights Templar Drug Cartel over the last few years terrorized and murdered avocado growers in the Mexican State of Michoacán to extort cash and steal farms.  Although Article 10 of the Mexican Constitutional guaranteed the right to keep and bear arms, gun control legislation drastically limited these legal rights.  But last year many farmers brought guns out of hiding to form vigilante groups called, “autodefensas,” to liberate their farms through force.  In partnership with the Mexican government on March 9th, they killed the top Knights Templar leader Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, known as the “Craziest One.” These Exceptional Mexicans are proving why Americans must defend their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. 

In Mexico, the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms was first recognized as a under Article 10 of the Mexican Constitution of 1857. But as part of the Mexican Constitution of 1917, Article 10 was amended to specify that citizens were entitled to “keep arms” (own them) but may only “bear them” (carry them) among the population in accordance to police regulation. The new law stipulated that virtually all weapons were defined as reserved for the armed forces and law enforcement as “weapons of war.” In 1971, Article 10 of the Constitution was amended again to give the federal government complete jurisdiction and control over the legal proliferation of firearms and restricted civilian access.

The disarming of the Mexican public directly marked the beginning of the rise the Gulf Cartel as the first drug trafficking organization in Mexico.  Juan Nepomuceno Guerra had smuggled alcohol into the United States from the Mexican State of Tamaulipas, directly across the border from Brownsville, Texas during the 1920s Prohibition era.  Guerra aligned with corrupt police to traffic in cocaine in the 1970s and over the next 40 years his Gulf Cartel expanded into money laundering, kidnapping, extortion, assassination, arms trafficking, and counterfeiting.  Their reach expanded from the United States to Europe, West Africa, Asia, Central America, and South America.  For the last five years, Knights Templar became the Gulf Cartel’s most intimidating soldiers.

About 90% of avocados consumed in the U.S. come from the Mexican State of Michoacán.  Nearly 44 million pounds of avocados were imported to meet record demand from Super Bowl parties.  The Mexican Avocado Growers Association spent approximately $4 million for 30 second Super Bowl Ad to celebrate their success. According to the Grower’s spokesman, "Since Avocados from Mexico are always in season, they're at optimum flavor all year round. Delivered to the US less than 48 hours after harvest, retailers can count on continued supply of fresh, delicious and in-demand Avocados from Mexico when prepping for the big game and beyond."

The Knights Templar decided in 2012 to start taking over most of the profitable groves in Michoacán.  After failing to receive any meaningful help protecting their property from the Mexican military, local farmers organized into vigilante “autodefensas” beginning in February 2013 and started relentlessly retaliating against the drug lords.

The Mexican government was so impressed with the success and tenacity of the autodefensas at wiping out the Knights Templar infrastructure, Mexico City expanded its own efforts to target The Knights Templar and signed a joint venture on January 27th to bring the self-defense groups into the fold.  The coordinated efforts of the 20,000 armed members of the autodefensas and the federal government have caused substantial leadership losses for the Knights Templar. Virtually all the avocado farms are back under the control of the owners and the vigilantes are now the de facto authorities in most Michoacán’s townships and serve to keep local government officials accountable.  Drug cartels across Mexico are now trying to avoid antagonistic actions among the common Mexican people that might generate more autodefensas movements. 

When President Barack Obama delivered his 2013 State of the Union address, he made an impassioned plea for lawmakers curtail Second Amendment rights by passing anti-gun violence legislation.  The speech came just two months after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting and the president was pushing very hard to leverage the dead children into the most sweeping gun control reforms in a generation.  With his gun-ban agenda considered dead on Capitol Hill a year later, Barack Obama is now pledging to extra-constitutionally reduce guns “with or without Congress.”

The president dreams of making Chicago-style strict gun control the law of the land in neighborhoods across America. Each year, Likes.com takes alook at the “Top 20 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in America” and Chicago is well represented.  North Auburn Gresham in Chicago won with a violent crime rate of 73.5 chances of being murdered, raped and etc.per 1,000 residents.  Chicago also won three of the next four “Most Dangerous Neighborhoods.” 

Valiant avocado farmers in 100% gun controlled Mexico faced heavily armed drug cartel soldiers when they finally decided to break the law and fight back.  In just a year, they ended the reign of terror and liberated their farms.  These Exceptional Mexicans in Michoacán support Americans’ Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

The author welcomes feedback @ chriss@chrissstreetandcompany.com
Chriss Street is teaching microeconomic at University of California, Irvine this spring from March 31 – June 8, 2014.  Call Student Services at (949) 824-5414 or visit http://unex.uci.edu/courses to enroll!