Photo Courtesy of the NY Attorney General’s Office
New York Attorney General Schneiderman on Tuesday detailed the thorough “Target on Trafficking” analysis authored by his Office.
By Forum Staff
Seventy-four percent of all crime guns recovered by law enforcement in New York originated out-of-state, according to a “first-of-its-kind” analysis authored by NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s Office that illustrates gun trafficking into the Empire State.
“Target on Trafficking,” released on Tuesday, examines the purchase history of the nearly 53,000 crime guns recovered by law enforcement in New York between 2010 and 2015.
A crime gun is any gun connected to a crime that is recovered by law enforcement, Schneiderman noted.
“The data makes one thing abundantly clear: New York’s strong gun laws are being undermined at every turn by lax laws in other states,” Schneiderman said. “Even as we work to make our streets safer, the illegal guns most often used in violent crimes continue to pour into our state. In fact, three-out-of-four guns used in New York crimes come from out-of-state. When you look at the illegal crime gun problem, it’s the handgun that’s killing people every day – and 86 percent of recovered handguns come from out-of-state, underscoring the problem New York faces. It’s time for the federal government – and other states – to take common sense measures and ensure weak gun laws won’t continue to take the lives of New Yorkers.”
The analysis showed trends in gun recoveries, particularly in regards to how out-of-state guns are flooding into New York from the “Iron Pipeline” – states with lax guns laws along the I-95 corridor, namely Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, Schneiderman noted.
Other findings in the new report include:
Only 6 Percent of Guns Were Recovered from a Possessor who was Also the Original Purchaser
- Only 3,208 guns were recovered from a possessor who was also the original purchaser of the gun. About half of these were low time-to-crime guns.
57 Percent of All Recovered Guns were Out-of-State Handguns
- For all the guns recovered in New York State, over half belong to a single category: out-of-state handguns. Handguns are known as the weapon of choice among violent criminals, Schneiderman said.
In addition to data on trafficking patterns, the report also provides policy recommendations to deal with the trafficking challenges faced by the State, including:
- Congress should require universal background checks and close the “gun show loophole.”
- Congress should make gun trafficking a federal crime; there is currently no comprehensive law that criminalizes each stage of illegal gun trafficking, according to the attorney general.
- Congress should expand access to aggregate trace data so non-law enforcement actors can analyze crime gun data to make more informed decisions about gun laws and law enforcement strategies.
- States should require licenses to own handguns.
- New York should pass the Gun Kingpin Bill to punish traffickers so severely (up to 25 years to life in prison) that the business becomes too risky a proposition.
“There’s no question: one of the biggest challenges this department faces are guns, and in particular handguns, that are trafficked into New York from out-of-state,” said NYPD Commissioner Jim O’Neill. “Attorney General Schneiderman’s report provides invaluable insight into where these guns come from and how law enforcement and lawmakers can act to protect New Yorkers.”
