About.com Rating



The Bottom Line

This is an informative book, and one that wouldn't have been possible if not for the author's sense of self-preservation, which prompted him to take measures to cover his back. In the end, he was wise to do what he did, as it very likely was the only thing that stood between him and the ATF's attempt to hang him out to dry as its failures became publicized.

Pros

 

• Hard cover, well-bound book.

• Very detailed due to the author's wealth of notes and recordings.
• Contains insight and details you will not find anywhere else.

Cons
 

• Contains foul language, all or most of which could have been omitted without sacrificing the story's integrity.
• The typos can be distracting to a stickler like myself, but there weren't too many of them.

Description
 

• "Guns Across the Border - The Inside Story - How and Why the U.S. Government Smuggled Guns Into Mexico"
• Hard cover book, 6.25" by 9.25".
• 264 pages. Contains an index.
• Written by Mike Detty.
• Introduction by David Codrea.
• Foreword by Sharyl Attkisson (who won an Emmy for investigative reporting on the government's "gun walking").
• Factual account by a federal firearms license holder recording his voluntary involvement with ATF's "gun walking" program which allowed and encouraged the sale of guns to Mexicans, and the movement of those guns across the border into Mexico.
• Author's journal-keeping and his policy of recording conversations allow this book to be very detailed.

• Exposes the actual goal and the rather pathetic end result of the Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious operations.

 

Guns Across the Border Book Review

When I began reading this book, I found it a bit odd. I was plunged right into the thick of the action, with names, dates, and plenty of details. I guess I'd expected to be more gradually introduced to the dangerous waters of illegal gun sales, rather than diving in headfirst. Perhaps that's how it felt to Mike Detty, too, when it all began in early 2006.

Mike Detty is a gun writer and Federal Firearms License (FFL) holder in Tucson, Arizona. As a gun dealer in a border state, he found himself approached by gun buyers who made him suspicious. He felt it was his duty to report such transactions to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and he did so.

The first two times he did so, his involvement and risk were minimal. Then things changed.

Fueled by a blind sense of patriotism that prevented him from doubting the intentions and actions of government personnel, Detty went along with ATF when they asked him to sell guns to people who were obviously buying the guns for others, and were admittedly taking them across the border into Mexico. ATF claimed that doing so would help them take down cartels and fight crime, so Mike was on board.

From there, things got crazy. It became routine for him to sell large numbers of guns to criminals alone in his living room with nobody else there to back him up, as did recording conversations and keeping a detailed journal. The risks were significant and all too real.

When it finally became clear that the government had no interest in following through with the investigation and doing the noteworthy things they'd claimed in order to gain his support, Detty grew weary. He began to realize that his thankless work had failed to make a dent in USA-Mexico gun trade - and in fact had only bolstered it. He'd become a pawn of those he had admired and trusted.

After they turned on him, only his thorough notes saved him from being hung out to dry by government authorities - and even then they tried to destroy his records.

Do I Like Mike?

After finishing the book, I find myself asking myself whether I actually like the author, Mike Detty. During most of the book, I did not. I thought he was unnecessarily crude, but my main objection to his behavior was when he chuckled at (and encouraged) the police shooting, browbeating, lying, and/or using military SWAT tactics against people. And then there was the time he laughed at someone who almost cut himself because he was unfamiliar with a switchblade knife Detty had handed him. Whether the guy was a crook is immaterial; Detty was just being mean.

After reading the entire book and seeing the conclusions he reached after all his experience, I certainly respect Mike Detty. I don't have to like him to appreciate what he's been through, and the fact that he has spoken out via this book to speak truth to the public.

That truth is simple, though unpleasant. The feds never wanted to take down any Mexican cartel; they only wanted American guns to be used in Mexican crimes in order to usher in stricter gun control laws. For the sake of that political goal, they were more than willing to put Detty and other dealers at risk and see Americans killed by these guns.

Conclusion

If you can handle coarse language and want to know just what went down with Operation Wide Receiver - and learn how it was related to Fast and Furious - you need to read this book. It's worth the time to learn how federal authorities managed to turn a gung-ho patriot into a more thoughtful patriot with a guarded mindset - much like that of our founding fathers.

I'm going to let Mike Detty close this review with this short but poignant excerpt:

"[B]eing a good American doesn't always involve doing what government authorities tell you to do. In this case, it required speaking out against the government when they were clearly wrong in their actions."

'Nuff said.

- Russ Chastain

More Book Reviews

 

• Backcountry Lawman by Bob H Lee
• A Guiding Life by Mark Shepard with Phil Fragasso
• The Hunter's Journal by Michael Drotos
• Confessions of an Ex-Gun Dealer by Ludwig Sawicki
• Main Book Review Index

 



Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.