Review by Dick Jones
Contributing Editor
GUNS ACRIOSS THE BORDER: How and Why the US Government Smuggled Guns into Mexico: The Inside Story, by Mike Detty, with an Introduction by David Codrea, and a Foreword by Sharyl Attkisson. © 2013. Hardcover, MSRP $24.95, but also available in Kindle and Audio editions, for less at Amazon.com.
Can you imagine how you’d feel if the U.S. Government came to you asking for your help? Imagine the original request involved only a short term involvement and a couple of encounters with criminals and offered you total protection from exposure. Then imagine the operation stretching out for over three years and the danger level escalating to the point of having discussions of putting you in the witness protection program. To make it worse, imagine the people you were trying to help turning on you and attempting to put you out of business.
I met Mike Detty last year at Gun Site for a Para new product seminar. Around the dinner table, there was discussion of Mike’s book, and I asked him to send me one. Guns Across the Borderis about Operation Wide Receiver and Operation Fast and Furious. After a suspicious gun show encounter, Detty informed the ATF and they expressed an interest in him helping them resolve the problem of firearms crossing the border into Mexico. His patriotism propelled him into a long term relationship with Mexican Cartel gun buyers, ATF agents, and an Assistant US Attorney who had no qualms about exposing him to the people he was trying to help the government convict.
Selected as one of the top 10 books written by Southern Arizona writers in 2013, Detty’s book is not only an interesting read that offers insight into how the ATF and other government agencies work, it has enough intrigue to keep you reading just to find out what happens next. Once I began it, I had a hard time putting it down. Guns Across the Border continues to maintain interest through its last pages and comes to serious conclusions by the end. Well written and documented, informative, and exciting, it’s a great story and a must read for anyone who wants a better insight into just how the ATF mismanaged the whole gun-walking scheme and the obvious dark motive behind it.
