PROTECTING OUR BORDERS

That's going to be pretty tough. Especially if our government insists on punishing any one that uses a gun to do so. And not just any one ... our own border patrol agents! They are given weapons for a reason. But when they use them against Mexican drug smugglers, this calls for time in jail. Here's the story.

Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were border patrol agents. They are now serving 11- and 12-year sentences respectively. Why? For shooting and wounding a Mexican trying to escape after failing to smuggle 743 pounds of marijuana across the border.

They are now sitting in jail. Their longest sentence is for "discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence," a violation of section 924(c)(1)(a) of the U.S. Code. The minimum is a ten year prison sentence. The "crime of violence," by the way, is drug smuggling.

But there's a catch. Simply discharging a firearm near a violent crime is not illegal. It is merely a factor used in sentencing. There is a lot of legal jargon involved. But basically these guys couldn't use their guns if the Mexican was only committing a drug crime because they are Border Agents and can only use their weapons to prevent border crossing.

Does that make any sense? Well, what the hell. We are talking about government here, aren't we?