Disrupt the death dealers
Definitive new research confirms that illegal guns flood New York from states where they are exceedingly easy to obtain and then, like poison, do damage with stunning speed after entering the bloodstream here. The study by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, tracking federal firearm trace data on more than 50,000 weapons recovered from crime scenes across the Empire State from 2010 through 2015, makes a powerful case for federally imposed background checks on all gun sales. And tougher federal laws on gun trafficking. And other reforms, lest states and cities with sane gun laws, strictly enforced, continue to be at the mercy of those where weapons can be bought at the drop of a hat.
Well known among those who follow crime trends is the Iron Pipeline of trafficking: Straw buyers load up on guns in places like South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia — then bring them across the border, where they become illegal instruments of mayhem and murder.
The phenomenon is well established, but the precise contours of the pipeline less so. Not anymore. Per Schneiderman’s research:
Nearly 90% of the 25,799 New York City crime guns recovered (for which origins could be traced) came from out of state; 22,119 of those were handguns — 92% of which came from out of state.
And of the 30,000 guns whose journey from production to wholesaler to retailer to user experts could be pieced together, a stunning 19% were recovered within three years of their last recorded purchase — and nearly half of those were recovered by cops within a year of purchase.
Which is to say, there’s all likelihood that thousands of guns are being specifically bought in order to be diverted into the criminal market.
A nation of 50 states knit together through commerce is ultimately only as safe as its weakest firearm regulations allow.
Which is why Congress must, hopefully under the leadership of a President Hillary Clinton, finally require what 90% of the public supports: background checks for all gun purchases, including those at gun shows and over the internet.
And why the Senate and recalcitrant House must go further and pass Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Mark Kirk’s bill to make gun trafficking — moving firearms for the purpose of selling them to criminals — a federal felony.
Otherwise, firearms will continue to flow freely through the pipeline. And, contrary to the gun lobby mythologists, more guns will bring more death.