U.S. Marine Stuck in Mexican Jail, Fighting Weapons Charges
A former U.S. Marine who took off on a surfing adventure to Costa Rica in August is stuck in a Mexican jail just over the border from Texas, and his family is calling for his release.
Ex-Marine Jon Hammar headed south with fellow veteran Ian McDonough on what was supposed to be a few months of surfing and camping in a Winnebago in Costa Rica. The two had recently finished a treatment program for post-traumatic stress disorder, which Hammar suffered after fighting in Fallujah, Afghanistan, according to his mother, Olivia Hammar.
“The treatment’s very exhausting, it’s a tough program, and he was there almost nine months,” said Olivia Hammar. “(They) decided they were going to buy an R.V., fix it up, drive down to Costa Rica through Mexico, and we were very nervous about it. We tried to discourage it, to tell him to take a plane, but they said, ‘We’re taking nine surfboards and need a place to stay.’”
Hammar and McDonough arrived on the border between Mexico and Texas on August 15. Hammar, however, had packed his great grandfather’s shotgun, a .410 Sears and Roebuck model nearly 100 years old. Hammar had hoped to hunt small birds with it while living in Costa Rica, Olivia said. The pair wanted to register the gun with Mexican authorities at the crossing point.
Full Story Here: U.S. Marine Veteran Imprisoned in Mexico on Arms Charges
This post may cause me to lose a few readers, it may anger some that believe themselves to be hard-core Second Amendment supporters, and if it does all I can say is ADIOS!
You see, this has nothing to do with the Second Amendment; it has everything to do with sheer stupidity!
A popular Gun Fan Page on Facebook is running a post on the above story. Second Amendment Task Force is the page and I have cut ALL ties with the owner of said page because of HIS comments and those of his STUPID readers.
Jon Hammar Jr. took a gun into Mexico. Read that again: Jon Hammar Jr. took a gun into Mexico, of his own free will.
Yes, it was an antique .410 shotgun that belonged to his grandfather, but Hammar took that gun into MEXICO. The Mexicans have a rule against that, it’s enforced kind of helter skelter, but hey, it’s Mexico, it’s THEIR rule and THEIR nation.
If Hammar didn’t see all the NO GUNS signs BEFORE he crossed the border and took the word of an unnamed U.S. Border Agent that has absolutely NO say in the matter once you cross out of the U.S. into Mexico, woe be unto this former Marine.
Let me be very blunt; I have a close friend that is a retired Chief of Police from a town down on the U.S. border with Mexico. Business dictated that he had to go into Mexico on occasion. As a TCLOSE certified Chief of Police my friend wasn’t allowed to take his own personal Police sidearm across the border even on OFFICIAL business.
Do I like it? NO, I don’t, but anyone that takes a gun to Mexico is STUPID!
Here’s the truly sad part, according to the comments on SATF, from the page owner and his readers, we need to just declare WAR on Mexico because this guy was STUPID and took a gun to Mexico, and as such, WE need to go get HIM because Mexico is enforcing THEIR laws in THEIR nation.
An American citizen goes to a foreign and sovereign nation, breaks THEIR gun laws and some American gun owners are in an uproar, wanting to go get him out, wanting to send in Navy SEALs, the Marines and the like, calling for a boycott of Mexican tourism. And YES, those ARE the comments being made on the post at SATF on Facebook.
Apparently, some folks that are subscribers to SATF aren’t fully aware that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has absolutely NO bearing in a foreign nation.
And some folks wonder WHY gun owners in the USA get such a bad name and are looked at as irresponsible morons…
I don’t like that the guy is locked up, chained to a bed by some accounts. But you’re right. He chose to go against Mexican Law in carrying the gun.
If anything he should have contacted the Mexican Consulate on any available permits required or left it back at home.
We complain about illegal aliens violating our laws and then turn around and complain when one of ours is caught violating their laws. We cannot have it both ways.
On another point, if they wish to lock people up for bringing guns into Mexico, shouldn’t we see Eric Holder and Barack Obama sharing a cell with the young Marine?
Holder and Obama had dupes doing it FOR them…
I feel for this Jar-Head, but listen up people. Listen up friends. Mexico is a nation that does not allow its citizens to have firearms. Something that Obama is trying to do to us sooner than later. That said, the Marine broke Mexican Federal law.
In Mexico you do not have the presumption of innocence like the USA does.
He is in jail until Mexico decides to release him. ($$$!).
Then and only then will he be released. What do we as a nation do when we capture Mexicans breaking our laws, they go to trial, then off to a federal pen. No different than Mexico, comprende amigo. It is what it is.
Good luck, the more bad press Mexico gets from people who do not understand, the longer his stay will be. Just sayin!
Who would have ever thought that I would make a post where I was forced to side with Mexico? Life is strange huh??
Lew and you are correct. Our laws don’t cover us in foreign nations. It’s our responsibility to learn the laws before we go to other nations. The guy was stupid to think he would get through Mexico with a gun, he being a Gringo and all.
Poor bastard.
Yeah, make NO mistake, I feel bad for the guy, I really do, but he is there in a predicament of his own making… This faux pas is all on him, and everyone knows I am really big on PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!
Well said Fred. I travel to many countries and know that taking a weapon is not a good idea in them. In Japan private ownership of firearms is illegal, as it is in Great Britain, France and most of Europe.
This idiot didn’t check on the gun laws of the nation(s) he was going to travel to. If he did (the information is on the internet) he could have left the gun at home. Heck, there are no legal rights for prisoners in Mexico either, so torture is permitted.
Once more an idiot gets himself in trouble then demands the US government to bail him out. Let him rot in Mexico.
All actions have consequences, this guy is learning that I think… He won’t ROT, not if his family sends the right amount of money to the right person…
In Mexico it’s not so much about THE LAW as it is about the cash..
That is true in most 3rd world countries.
My sympathy goes out to him. Truly it does but you’re right Fred. He made the choice to break their laws.
That being said. If a group of Americans outside of agencies decided to go get him and needed an older white guy with a few guns to go get him, I’m in.
What I see here is some serious problems at the federal level. It seems that since we are providing Mexicans with everything under the sun when they BREAK OUR LAWS, some folks at the diplomatic levels should have NO PROBLEM obtaining this guys freedom. Do you think for a minute that if we had a strong conservative POTUS that this guy would be spending more than a night in a Mexican jail? I don’t.
I find it funny that the Mexicans are very quick to enforce their laws, but have NO ISSUE with Mexicans breaking ours.
This entire thing makes me sick to tell you the truth.
Admirable thoughts my friend, let me know what prison they put you in, IF you live through the ordeal..
He is in a Federal prison in Mexico City as I understand it, a rescue mission is NOT something that needs to happen… If he gets out, IF his family can BUY his way out, once back here he needs someone to slap the shit out of him and hopefully knock some common sense into his head…
P.S. WHY would Mexico have issues with Mexicans breaking OUR laws?? That enforcement is on US, not them.. And the same goes on for what happens in Mexico, it’s THEIR nation…
I don’t like it, but, the man chose to break the law. If he can’t do the time then don’t do the crime.
Exactly!
Our Department of State should shut off all aid to Mexico immediately. Furthermore, they should threaten to ship thousands of illegals to Acapulco by boat and just dump them off.
This is the dumbest thing I ever heard of.
Shut off aid to Mexico because they had the audacity to enforce their own laws?
If I were the president, I would offer a prisoner swap to get our man out. Tell the mexican president that he must release the American prisoner and let him come back to his home country. If the mexican president refuses, then I would threaten to release all mexican prisoners held in the US and send them back to their home country. Our marine would be home in 10 minutes.
WHY would we even want to do a prisoner exchange?
It’s not like this guy was kidnapped and falsely imprisoned, he’s in jail because he’s STUPID, not because he’s a victim..
It was a joke.
Tell the mexican president to give us our citizen that they have in jail, back to us, or we were going to give mexico all of their citizens that we have in our jails back to them. Get it?
Two words:
La Mordida.
Those persons allegedly familiar with the Second should know that it holds no water in foreign lands. Plain and simple.
BZ
They should… But apparently there is no end to stupidity, even from people claiming to be on the right..
There were signs at the border stating not to bring guns into Mexico. Hammar and his friend who was traveling with him both saw the signs. His friend tried to talk him into not taking the gun into Mexico but Hammar thought otherwise. Instead he chose to listen to what some Customs agent said, who as far as anyone knows, could have been a janitor. Maybe he thought his status as a former Marine would carry some weight and they would let him pass. Believe me, after serving 26 years active duty, many young guys believe their “Veteran” status is a get out of jail free card. Either way, the young man broke their law. I would like to see our State Department exert some pressure to get him to trial soon, get his fines assessed, and get this over. He has to go through their legal process just like anyone else. All our government can do is their best to make sure it’s a fair trial.
I think there’s room for some diplomacy here. Yes Mexico enforced their laws and its their right. Yes the Marine was stupid for doing what he dun did. Yes Mexico has a right to enforce their laws as they see fit.
Fact is this: We have tolerated drugs/gangs/criminals moving north without so much as a whimper from the leaders in DC. Duh Won has given a virtual BJ to every Mexican here to get elected. Seems to me IF a politician was so inclined he/she should be able to negotiate a quick release of this guy.
Does he deserve special attention? Well, I would think his Marine status should award him special treatment in years past I guess..
I would also hope that when Mexico calls for some help this particular incident remains fresh in the minds of servicemen who may be sent.
But to expect anyone to save his ass is I guess misguided hope. Obama’s admin left many to die in Benghazi, this is just a blip on a bigger mission I guess.
Here’s my problem: Hammar, a Marine who fought in Iraq during the siege of Fallujah, was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border between Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico Aug. 13, after he thought he legally declared a shotgun an American border agent allegedly gave him permission to take into Mexico.
Was he duped somehow by a border agent? Or someone pretending to be a border agent? I think the trumped up charge is just someone flexing their muscle and this poor bastard got caught up in the system. It appears with the changing of the guard down there he may get a break. Still a bad idea, but he may not have been thinking all too clearly after completing treatment and suffering a little ptsd. He’s probably a tough kid though and will learn a valuable lesson from this whole crap experience. Semper Fi!
Pingback: Mexico making example out of Marine with trumped up charge, says lawyer - US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum