And you're a f'ing moron every damned day. The pro
Post# of 123681
Where Do Guns Used to Commit Shootings in Chicago Come From?
https://robinkelly.house.gov/media-center/in-...icago-come
Out-of-State Imports
About six in ten "crime guns" seized by Chicago Police originated from gun shops outside of Illinois, according to a 2017 report issued by the department. Crime guns are defined by law enforcement as those that are "illegally possessed, used, or suspected to be used in furtherance of a crime."
In about 95 percent of cases, the person found in possession of a crime gun is not the original purchaser of the weapon, the report said.
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence ranks Illinois' gun laws as the eighth toughest in the country. The state requires citizens to have a permit to buy firearms and to report stolen or lost guns. Residents who want to sell their guns privately are also required to solicit a background check from state officials and to submit documentation of the sale.
No such laws exist in neighboring states such as Indiana, making them a target for traffickers seeking to sell weapons on the black market in Chicago.
About 21 percent of guns confiscated by police in Chicago are traced back to gun shops across the border in Indiana, a short drive from the city.
Sixty percent of firearms recovered by police originated from a dealer outside Illinois, research showed, with one out of every five guns coming from Indiana. [[454140443, C]]
Weapons recovered in Chicago were also traced back to Mississippi, Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Texas, according to the report.
Legal Challenges
Identifying and prosecuting Chicago's gun traffickers has proved to be a challenging task for officials.
Between 2007 and 2017, about 90 percent of weapons-related arrests made by Chicago police have been for illegal gun possession. Only 142 arrests were made for illegal sales — none for trafficking, or the illegal transfer of at least three guns.
Because the city's crime guns often change hands many times before they're recovered, the CPD says it's difficult to establish a full ownership history, particularly when the gun originates from a state with no requirement to document private sales.
"In order for the investigation to proceed from the initial buyer … multiple cooperative witnesses and a great deal of luck are likely required to determine at what point an illegal transfer took place," the report states.
With over 7,000 crime guns seized by CPD in 2017, establishing a chain of custody for each gun without a national database for secondary sales is a daunting proposition.
The lack of centralization amongst gun traffickers is also a challenge for law enforcement. In over 90 percent of cases examined by the CPD, seized guns were traced back to an original buyer with no other crime gun originally purchased in their name.
Solutions
Further complicating police investigations is the lack of federal oversight on gun trafficking issues. Illinois officials can only prosecute state residents for gun trafficking, and federal resources to combat illegal inter-state sales are slim.
Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-Il.), who represents many of Chicago's districts with the highest rates of gun violence, is backing a law that would make gun trafficking a federal crime and allow national law enforcement agencies, such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, to play a greater role in investigating these crimes.
"Our common sense gun safety laws have been rendered ineffective thanks to dangerous, counterproductive laws in Indiana, Wisconsin and elsewhere. These lax laws make it easy for criminals to traffic weapons, for dangerous individuals to get firearms," Kelly, who serves as vice chair of House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, told The Globe Post.
Kelly is a vocal proponent of the Federal Gun Trafficking Act that was proposed in 2017. Though it has 82 co-sponsors, including three Republicans, the bill has not yet advanced out of committee.