Anti-gun jihadists like to pretend that guns being used in Mexico come from the United States. They use the violence in Mexico to justify additional curtailments of our constitutionally protected rights.

However, let’s be realistic here. Guns end up in Mexico from all sorts of places. One example can be found in a German trial of Heckler & Koch officials who (allegedly) illegal shipped guns to Mexico.

A German court Tuesday put on trial six former employees of gun maker Heckler & Koch over thousands of assault rifles that were allegedly exported illegally to violence-torn Mexican states.

Human rights activists, dozens of whom protested outside the Stuttgart court, charge that G36 automatic rifles have been used in abuses including the 2014 disappearance and suspected massacre of 43 Mexican students.

In the dock are two former H&K directors, two former sales executives, one former sales staff and a former Mexico representative.

The six defendants, aged between 54 and 77, face maximum jail terms of up to five years if found guilty, and the court could also fine the company based in Oberndorf am Neckar, a major centre of the German weapons industry.

Germany is one of the world’s top five arms exporters, along with the United States, Russia, China and France, and all its defence equipment sales abroad are subject to government approval.

Well, what do you know? It’s almost like American guns aren’t the only place Mexican gangs are getting weapons.

It’s almost like Germany’s very strict gun laws were insufficient to keep it from happening there.

Funny how that shakes out, doesn’t it?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t like the idea of anyone arming the cartels down there. I’d much rather they be choked off from firearms and everything else. In fact, I’d be fine if the “choking off” was a little less metaphorical, truth be told. They’re ruthless, violent thugs who terrorize and murder innocent people while contributing to their country’s descent into failed state status.

However, this isn’t about the cartels. We can clearly see that they have ways of securing firearms regardless of what laws are on the books.

This is about Americans having the right to arm themselves and anti-gun zealots trying to pretend it’s our fault that the cartels can get guns. Clearly, it’s not. They get them in all sorts of ways. Yes, some of them are from straw buys. A whole lot of them were cases where the government was complicit in those straw buys, truth be told.

We’re not giving up our guns because we know it won’t make a difference. It won’t stop violence here in our country nor will it have an impact in Mexico. It’s just not going to happen.

So, instead, we’re going to hold onto our sacred and protected rights and refuse to back down. Mexico’s mess is Mexico’s mess. I can’t help but wonder just how much of their problems are a direct result of people not having the means to defend themselves from violent cartel thugs in the first place. Taking our guns won’t undo that reality.