Data Sources: 1) "Crime Gun Trace Analysis Reports: The Illegal Youth Firearms Market in 27 Communities," Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), February 1999 2) Performance Report For the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations Pursuant to Conference Report 105-825, Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), October 1998 3) The Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII) 27 Communities -- Highlights, Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), February 1999 4) "Crime Gun Trace Analysis Reports: The Illegal Youth Firearms Market in 17 Communities," Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), July 1998 Basic Facts from 1998 YCGII reports: 76260 Guns Traced (called Crime Guns) of which 10,719 (14.1%) were used in violent crimes (homicide, assaults, robbery, etc.) (nearly 86% of the guns reported were not associated with violent crimes so the ATF report gives no meaningful picture of guns used in violence), 30,556 (40.1%) were not traced because they were manufactured before 1990 (hence they were excluded from the results reported), 3,701 (4.9%) were taken from juveniles (under age 18) 10,582 (13.9%) were taken from young adults (age at least 18, but less than 25) 18,370 (24.1%) were taken from adults of age 25 and older, 4,630 (6.1%) ATF reported as having a time to crime of less than 3 years (partial report -- ATF gives these numbers for the top ten guns in each community, not for all guns), 16,222 came from Chicago, Ill., 8,437 came from New York City, and 3,717 came from Baltimore, MD. Since the start of the YCGII program in June 1996, the 1998 ATF Performance Report states 1,604 investigations were begun by the BATF. The number of guns involved in the 1,604 investigations is 26,928. Of the 1,604 investigations, 648 involved juveniles or young adults under age 25. Of the 648 investigations (since June 1996) approximately 41% have been adjudicated, 301 investigations begun in FY98, 310 cases involved gun trafficking, 330 involved straw purchasing, 238 involved trafficking in stolen guns, 76 cases where purchaser provided false information to acquire a firearm, 83 cases resulted from a review of multiple sales forms, and 159 were recommended for prosecution because of trace analysis after firearms were seized. Numbers do not add to 648 because many cases are in more than one category. The 648 investigations have resulted in 397 individuals prosecuted. In the 310 gun trafficking cases, 369 defendants had prior felony convictions (the BATF explains that "Felons obtained firearms from FFLs by using false identification or providing false information to the FFL." (P 6, Performance Report.) The BATF reports 301 investigations in FY98 in the 1998 Performance Report involving 3,347 guns, 151 cases recommended for federal prosecution with 276 defendants and 19 cases recommended for State prosecution with 36 defendants. The BATF reports do not specifically tell how many FFLs were prosecuted or convicted for violations of gun trafficking laws. That omission is very interesting. In the 1998 reporting period (Aug. 1, 1997 to July 31, 1998) Baltimore submitted 3,717 guns to the BATF for tracing. Of those 3,717 guns 300 were seized from juveniles (age 17 and under), 825 were seized from young adults (18 years of age through 24 years of age), 1,286 were seized from adults 25 and older, 1,306 were seized from people not identified on the trace form, and they were in 518 kinds of crime guns (different makes and models). Of the 3,717 guns from Baltimore (all, 100%, were submitted for tracing), 910 (24.5%) were of the ten most frequent kinds of guns seized, 2,807 were from the remaining 508 types of guns, and 1,117 were not traced because they were manufactured before 1990. Of the 910 guns from the ten most frequent kinds, 151 were Smith & Wesson .38 revolvers, 135 were Davis .380 semiautomatic pistols, 115 were Mossberg 12GA shotguns, 87 were Harrington & Richardson .32 revolvers, 84 were Ruger 9mm semiautomatic pistols, 78 were Raven .25 semiautomatic pistols, 67 were Taurus .38 revolvers, 67 were Rossi .38 revolvers, 67 were Marlin .22 rifles, and 59 were Smith & Wesson .357 revolvers. Now in many respects Baltimore is similar to other jurisdictions in that the Smith & Wesson .38 is submitted to the BATF for tracing in more cases than any other gun. The Smith & Wesson .38 is the top gun in 15 of 27 jurisdictions, in the top 5 for 25 of 27 jurisdictions, and in the top 10 for 26 of 27 jurisdictions in the 1998 report. Of the 3,717 guns from Baltimore, 682 were associated with violent crimes, 3,035 were not associated with violent crimes, 965 were initially sold in Maryland, 104 in Virginia, 59 in Pennsylvania, 52 in Florida, 51 in North Carolina, 39 in Georgia, 36 in Ohio, 25 in South Carolina, 24 in West Virginia, and 22 in New York. Notice that one of the top ten states supplying crime guns to Maryland is New York with its notoriously weak gun laws. The BATF uses a time to crime measured from date of retail sale to date firearm was seized by law enforcement as indicator of potential gun trafficking. In the case of a time to crime is less than three years, a fast time to crime, the BATF suspects gun trafficking with criminals. In the ten most frequent guns categories, the BATF reports the number of guns in each category having the fast time to crime. Of these guns in the "All Crime Guns" (all ages) group, 8 of 151 (5.3%) Smith & Wesson .38 revolvers, 54 of 135 (40%) Davis .380 semiautomatic pistols, 29 of 115 (25.2%) Mossberg 12GA shotguns, 1 of 87 (1.1%) Harrington & Richardson .32 revolvers, 41 of 84 (48.8%) Ruger 9mm semiautomatic pistols, 0 of 78 (0.0%) Raven .25 semiautomatic pistols, 7 of 67 (10.4%) Taurus .38 revolvers, 12 of 67 (17.9%) Rossi .38 revolvers, 9 of 67 (13.4) Marlin .22 rifles, and 4 of 59 (6.8%) Smith & Wesson .357 revolvers had time to crime of less than 3 years. The number of guns with fast time to crime is from the BATF Trace report, but they report much higher percentages of fast time to crime. They obtain those higher percentages by discarding from consideration any gun that they do not complete the trace and those guns where the date seized was not recorded. So, in the case of the Marlin .22 rifles, BATF reports 42.9% (9 of 21) showing a fast time to crime. Obviously, Baltimore is a hot bed of trafficking in Marlin .22 rifles since this rifle was also in the top ten in 1997 and had a similarly high percentage (46.2%) of fast time to crime. Actually, the presence of the Marlin and its relative uselessness as a crime gun shows the useless nature of the time to crime measure. The Marlin shows up as a top 10 gun in several jurisdictions. Notice also, that popular Saturday night special, the Raven .25, does not show a fast time to crime in Baltimore.