Survey: Crooks get guns from pals, don't keep them long[Chicago]

[hack89]

Chicago criminals are finicky about how they get their guns, according to a new study by the University of Chicago Crime Lab.

In a survey of almost 100 detainees in the Cook County Jail, few said they get firearms at gun shows or through the Internet, said Harold Pollack, co-director of the crime lab. They also said they don’t normally steal guns or buy them at a licensed store.

Most of the inmates said they had a gun within six months of getting locked up. And most said they got the weapons through personal connections because they feared getting caught in a law-enforcement sting or being robbed by a stranger.

The researchers are now studying how gun traffickers obtain the weapons they supply to the criminals on the street. Research has shown most guns recovered in crimes in Chicago originally were sold by a handful of suburban Cook County gun shops, with Indiana being the largest out-of-state source of crime guns here.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/915770/university-chicago-survey-finds-crooks-get-guns-from-pals-dont-keep-them-long

I think is past time to significantly increase the ATF's budget so they can crack down on illegal gun trafficking. End the war on drugs and refocus on illegal guns.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. While here in the Midwest doing family business,

we,just for Ha Ha's,hit a few flea markets. Holy Hanna,you can buy any damn type of long gun or hand gun you want. Asked a couple of fellows if this is legit,answer was if you live in this state,and it is a personal sale,no back ground check needed. Found out there are 17 states where personal in state sales do not need background checks. Back to the fellow with the guns,cash or check,was his answer and BTW,you need ammo,got a heck of a deal. Don't need a gun and we did not buy one but were just blown away with the ease of getting one. All this bullshit from the NRA is just BULLSHIT. Oh,forgot this,NRA signs and sign-up posters all over the place.

[hack89]

2. Intrastate gun sales are regulated at the state level

as long as the seller and buyer are residents of the state and the sale takes place in their state of residents.

It is a tough issue. My state has a requirement for background checks but there have never been any prosecutions because there is no way for the state to keep track of private gun sales - if the parties involve decide to ignore the law then it remains a private transaction invisible to the state.

[surrealAmerican]

3. Pretty much what you'd suspect, although there was this:

Some of those surveyed said people with legal permits to own a firearm buy guns for everyone in the neighborhood who wants one. Sometimes, gang leaders pick someone to go out of state to buy guns. Two inmates said corrupt cops take guns and “put them back on the street.”

I wonder how much those crooked cops are making from guns.

[Lizzie Poppet]

4. Huge problem: laws against straw purchases are almost unenforced.

That needs to change, as it's becoming clear that this is a major vector of firearms into the hands of criminals. Straw purchases are difficult for law enforcement to prevent, obviously. We're not yet to the point where there is surveillance of our every action (thankfully). However, they can be discovered during the investigation of a crime committed with a weapon that's been straw purchased for a disqualified person.

The problem is that in those cases the illegal purchaser is seldom prosecuted. Apparently, this has not been considered important enough to spend prosecutor resources, court time, and jail space on...and I think that's a huge error. The key to reducing gun-related violence in America is reducing the supply of firearms to the relatively small number of people who commit crimes with them...the majority of whom are already legally prohibited from owning firearms, due to having felony records.