The political nightmare that the Operation Fast and Furious gunrunning investigation has become for the Obama administration won’t be going away...
Read full entry »A new report from Brown University illustrates how varying state laws regulating firearms impact interstate gun trafficking patterns.
Read full entry »Legendary Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, on the run for more than 15 years, was arrested yesterday in Santa Monica, Ca., the Los Angeles Times...
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For the first time in 15 years, in 2009 fear of crime overtook unemployment as the most significant problem for citizens in Latin and South America, according to a new policy brief.
Read full entry »An arsenal found in Mexico included at least five assault rifles that U.S authorities trace to the federal operation known as Fast and Furious, reports the Wall Street Journal. The discovery appears to confirm fears that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operation failed to stop guns from ending up with drug gangs in Mexico. The program, run by the ATF's Phoenix office, monitored weapons purchases by suspected gun traffickers who were believed to be funneling weapons to Mexican drug cartels. Some lawmakers say ATF didn't have the means to track the guns and shouldn't have used such tactics.
Fast and Furious, which became public after ATF whistle-blowers contacted lawmakers earlier this year, is now the subject of congressional probes. Mexican and U.S. officials say weapons trafficked mostly from U.S. border states are fueling the cartel wars that have killed more than 40,000 people in Mexico since 2006. The lawmakers claim the operation allowed suspected traffickers to buy more than 2,500 weapons in the U.S. and may have helped fuel the trafficking the ATF is supposed to try to prevent. In April, Mexican police found a cache in Ciudad Juarez that included two dozen AK-47-style rifles, three antiaircraft machine guns, dozens of grenades and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition. At least five rifles seized were purchased in the U.S. by suspects the ATF was tracking in the Fast and Furious operation.
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Some of the country's foremost experts, organizations and academics working on gun violence issues are listed in this resource guide.
Access the guide here.
For more information on the topic click on "covering gun violence."
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In order to spur further public debate and greater knowledge about gun violence, media outlets in the Midwestern region were asked to submit proposals for original investigative reporting.
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By Mick Dumke, Chicago News Cooperative
People debate when Chicago’s public housing projects came down, many of their former residents moved into middle-class South Side neighborhoods and brought crime with them.
Federal crack cocaine offenders sentenced after November 1 will get sentences about 25 percent lower on average as a result of the changes made...
Read full entry »A four-part series on the problem of illegal guns published in the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Press in December 2010 was awarded third place for investigative reporting by the Michigan AP Editorial Association.
Read full entry »Illegally trafficked assault rifles and gun parts manufactured in Nashville found their way to Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, The Tennessean reports. Court document from federal agents show details of an alleged conspiracy to skirt U.S. regulators and law enforcement to get a leg up in the high-stakes international arms industry.
Four Sabre Defence Industries executives charged in a 21-count federal indictment are likely to change their not guilty pleas Monday. The alleged fraud included British owner Guy Savage and Nashville officials using "phony shipping documents" and invoices from "fairy land," sending gun parts overseas under false bottoms in shipping containers and stamping silencers illegally imported from Finland as if they were manufactured in Nashville. Sabre officials were calling silencers "lawn mower mufflers" and rifle barrels "gear shafts" in an effort to fly under the radar of regulators. Savage allegedly purchased a Nashville gun maker known as Ramo Defense Systems in 2002 hoping to be able to ship parts to his British company and hoping to score U.S. defense contracts.
Read full entry »In its flurry of action to cut federal spending, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to block the Obama administration from implementing a controversial plan meant to give federal authorities a new tool to catch gunrunners to Mexico, reports the Washington Post. The proposed rule was strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association. The measure passed with bipartisan support, 277 to 149.
The amendment by Rep. Dan Boren (D-Ok.), bars the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from using federal money to require licensed firearm dealers to report multiple sales of assault weapons. Under the proposed rule, 8,500 gun dealers near the U.S.-Mexico border would be required to alert authorities when they sell within five consecutive business days two or more semiautomatic rifles greater than .22 caliber with detachable magazines. Arturo Sarukhan, Mexican ambassador to the U.S., called the vote "unfortunate."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/18/AR2011021808128.html
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Ten states supply almost half the guns used in the nation's crimes, found a new survey released today by the Mayors Against Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of more than 500 mayors. Researchers studied previously unreleased ATF gun data and found a direct correlation between the states with the weakest gun laws and highest gun trafficking. The states include: Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California or Arizona.
Read the report here.
Use the Crime Report for more information on guns.
Read full entry »The Bergen Record says the jumble of contradictory state gun laws on the East Coast allows cheap firearms to funnel into New Jersey along I-95, nicknamed the "Iron Pipeline." New Jersey has strict gun laws, but the ease of firearms purchases in states with lax laws make it difficult to keep illegal guns off the streets of Paterson and other communities in the state. In 2009, illegal firearms killed 13 people in Paterson and injured 54. Most of the shootings involved gang members or drug dealers, but on at least two occasions a young person was accidentally shot dead with an illegally obtained gun.
At one point last year, residents crowded into the City Council chambers to plead passionately with elected officials to stop the gun violence. But state laws elsewhere make that difficult. In addition, recent federal regulations restrict the flow of public information about the provenance, or history, of guns used in crimes. "We may have some of the toughest gun laws in the country, but if surrounding states don’t, it weakens our efforts," said former Paterson Mayor Joey Torres. To be sure, even if guns were absent, there would still be violence in places where poverty, drugs and gangs breed desperation. But the availability of guns ensures that the mayhem will often be lethal.
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The State Department released their annual report, "To Walk the Earth in Safety," about its worldwide weapons eradication program in mine clearance and destruction assistance. Th U.S. works in 32 countries to destroy weapons, as well as implement programs to assist conflict survivors and inform area residents of potential risks from unexploded munitions.
Read the report here.
Use The Crime Report for more information on international criminal justice.
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