Did Issa's committee ever even discuss the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

23. Whether a gun originated as a legal civilian or government US firearm...

it will have serial numbers. As required by law, firearms commercially manufactured in the US or legally imported must have a manufacturer/importer name, location, caliber, and serial number. Even if this information were obliterated (to avoid discrete tracking) it would still be evident that some information at some point existed and likely existed because the gun is from the US. Such a firearm can be reasonably considered to have been trafficked from the US.

From the government GAO-09-709 Firearms Trafficking Report: Over 90 percent of the firearms seized in Mexico and traced over the last 3 years have come from the United States. ... In 2008, of the almost 30,000 firearms that the Mexican Attorney General’s office said were seized, only around 7,200, or approximately a quarter, were submitted to ATF for tracing.

Note the bolded portions above and understand the caveat of the "most guns come from the US" meme... you can only determine the origin of TRACEABLE firearms. In the government's own report, it indicates that mexico only submits about 25% of the net firearms seized. If a firearm appears to have no markings destroyed and no legal american required markings or it is evident that the firearm carries foreign identification (soviet surplus, chinese, combloc, etc...) then there is little reason for the Mexican government to request US trace data for that firearm.

Not to mention when you see the photo op pictures of Mexican police posing behind the proverbial gaggle of seized guns. Next time you notice a pic like this, if the resolution is good enough, look at the firearms closely. In addition to your average rifle/pistol you'll see grenade launchers, light/crew machine guns, grenades, AK/AR rifles with select fire fire control groups, belt fed machineguns, RPGs, short barreled rifles... all sorts of actual military grade shit. These guns are not coming from US civilian gun shops and gun shows. Stuff like this in the US, if it's legal at all, is WAY more regulated and not simply cash and carry.