A Gun Trafficking Example

Law enforcement has been doing an increasingly efficient job of arresting and prosecuting felons and other disqualified users for criminal possession of guns. The question that frustratingly remains unanswered is "Where did they get the gun?"

A lucrative market exists for illegal gun sales. Prosecutions for illegal trafficking are very rare in comparison to those for illegal possession, adding to the lure of making money from illegal gun sales.

Here is an exception. In a series of investigative articles from Buffalo, New York earlier this year comes a remarkable example of how trafficking can take place and how good law enforcement and investigative reporting work can expose it.

The events in Buffalo point out how legislative work in three important areas can help law enforcement fight trafficking:

• Licensing and Registration of all firearms purchasers: So illegal guns can be traced to the last legal buyers, establishing a chain of ownership.
• Reporting of stolen weapons: If stolen guns were required to be reported, traffickers and "straw buyers" couldn't so easily use the ruse that the gun traced back to them had been stolen from them.
• Making dealers more accountable: Currently, it is very difficult for law enforcement to prosecute rogue dealers. Even when it seems obvious that a dealer was selling to a trafficker or straw buyer, proving what they knew is very difficult.

June 12, 2005
The Damage Done

TWO BUFFALO LIVES INTERTWINE AS A GUN TRAFFICKER'S SCHEME SHOOTS DOWN A YOUNG ATHLETE'S DREAMS. Read More

June 13, 2005
In the Gun Factory

WHERE AMERICA'S CHEAPEST SEMI-AUTOMATICS-WEAPONS OF CHOICE FOR BUFFALO CRIMINALS-ARE MADE. Read More

June 14, 2005
The Double Standard

STREET GUN DEALERS GO TO JAIL, WHILE LICENCED GUN MERCHANTS - PART OF THE GUN-CRIME PROBLEM - GET A PASS. Read More

June 15, 2005
The Gun Battle

FROM THE MEAN STREETS TO CONGRESSIONAL HALLS, THE FIGHT OVER GUN CONTROL VERSUS CITIZENS' RIGHTS. Read More