THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609070414
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 82 lines
Virginia's one-gun-a-month law is working - making it much more difficult for gun-runners to make a profit and not get caught, federal officials say.
A gun-running ring involving more than a dozen fraternity brothers is a perfect example of how the new law is working, they say. It also shows how those determined to ship guns out of Virginia are able to find loopholes.
Professional gun-runners want profits that depend on the trafficking of large numbers of new guns. Since Virginia enacted the law in 1993, however, they must rely on straw purchasers who can supply them with only one gun a month, the legal limit per buyer. To increase profits, ringleaders must recruit large numbers of purchasers. But the large numbers of people makes the scheme vulnerable.
For instance, the fraternity gun-running ring - the largest uncovered in Virginia since the new law took effect in 1993 - had nearly two dozen straw purchasers.
``It was doomed by its nature,'' said Mike Brooks, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent who cracked the case. ``The more people involved, the more likely they will talk and the more likely they will be reported.
``The larger the animal, the easier it is to catch.''
Two years after the law went into effect, statistics are beginning to confirm its impact, federal officials say.
Until 1995, Virginia was the leading supplier of guns used in crimes in Washington. Now, as a result of Virginia's stiffer gun laws, Maryland has taken the lead.
In 1994, Maryland supplied 27 percent of the guns seized in crimes in Washington, while Virginia supplied about 30 percent. The next year, 1995, Maryland supplied 33 percent, while Virginia supplied 30 percent. So far this year, Virginia has supplied about 24 percent; Maryland, about 32 percent.
Simply because of their proximity to the capital, Virginia and Maryland probably will continue to be the largest suppliers of criminals' guns in Washington. And criminals will always be able to find someone to purchase a gun for them across state lines, said Charlie Thomson, special agent in charge of the ATF's Washington and Virginia region.
Still, when Maryland's one-gun-a-month law goes into effect Oct. 1, ATF agents believe that that state's percentages will begin to drop as well.
Just as professional gun-runners moved on to Maryland when Virginia's law kicked in, when Maryland's goes into effect, they will probably move again, ATF agents predict. Most likely, they will see more guns coming into Washington from states where gun laws are less restrictive, primarily in the Southeast and West.
``The disparity in state laws makes it harder (for law enforcement),'' Thomson said. ``Until there's a national standard, we'll continue to have these trafficking organizations moving from state to state.''
And criminals are finding the loopholes in Virginia's law, moving to nontraditional sources of guns like gun shows, flea markets and private sales, where sales are not registered with ATF, no approval is required and there are no limits on the number of guns sold.
``It's something ATF is looking at,'' Thomson said. ``How do we regulate that underground industry?''
The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, in Washington, has been closely monitoring the Virginia law. In June, the center released a study showing that the number of guns recovered in crimes in the northeastern U.S. and traced to Virginia had dropped 66 percent since the new law went into effect.
``This case absolutely represents that the law is working,'' said Dennis Henigan, of the center. ``It is naive to think there would be no attempts to evade the law. The question is, has the law raised the cost and risk of trafficking? It certainly has done that. This case was a very inefficient, costly way to go about trafficking guns.'' ILLUSTRATION: Map
Graphics
The Virginian-Pilot
CRIME GUNS SEIZED IN D.C.
SOURCE: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
THE GUN LIST
[For complete graphics, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: GUNRUNNING STING OPERATIONS NORFOLK
STATE UNIVERSITY MURDER SHOOTING ARREST
TRIAL WEAPONS GUNS by CNB