Illegal Guns Pose Local Dangers

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	Illegal Guns Pose Local Dangers *Police Cracking Down, But Activists Say Problem Persists* POSTED: 3:29 pm PST November 20, 2007 UPDATED: 12:15 am PST November 21, 2007 SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Illegal firearms are in our community right now. Police said these weapons are in the hands of gang members and criminals and are at the center of a majority of crimes. KCRA 3 asked Sacramento Police Chief Al Najera how big of an issue such guns are in the city. "It's just about the most important issue we're dealing with right now," Najera responded. In an undercover video obtained by KCRA 3, a known West Sacramento gang member is shown buying an AK-47 at a Reno, Nev., gun show. "There is a significant number coming from unscrupulous dealers or posing as dealers who are not actually dealers," Najera explained. A first-of-its-kind academic study of gun show sales by University of California, Davis, researcher Garen Wintemute confirmed that criminals are easily accessing guns at otherwise legal gun shows. How did a known gang member buy a gun? KCRA 3 found that unlike California, Nevada does not require background checks or other record-keeping safeguards for private-party sales. Police said those weapons often end up being used for illegal activity. "The problem with illegal firearms is that it is directly proportional to other violent crimes, because crime guns enable those violent crimes," Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agent R. Graham Barlowe said. The impact is being felt by innocent local residents, such as the De La Cruz and Aquitania families. Police said Sean Aquitania and his baby son were shot to death earlier this year by guns that were likely illegally bought or possessed. This year federal ATF agents such as Barlowe teamed up with Sacramento investigators to target illegal guns. In a program dubbed "Operation Gunslinger," law officers seized 449 illegal guns during the six-month crackdown. The seizures continue today. In fact, city and county law officers confiscate an average of 33 illegal firearms every single month, KCRA found. On top of that, investigators seized thousands of dollars in profits. The district attorney's office has already put 14 people in jail and another two dozen are awaiting trial. A new state law was enacted requiring special tracing marks on bullet casings in an effort to link the bullets used in crimes to the exact gun and gun owner. But critics said that is not enough. "I think these efforts quite honestly are insignificant," community activist Rhonda Erwin said. She worries these efforts are only targeting symptoms of the problem and not addressing the root of why anyone is buying guns illegally in the first place. Read the full article (The text of old articles, if missing, may be available in an archive, which sometimes requires a subscription.)

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