September 27, 2010

By Gary Taylor

Guns traveling across state lines are being used in crimes in alarming numbers, a report by a coalition of the nation's mayors shows.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns has traced 145,321 guns that were used in crimes in 2009 and found that 30 percent of them were bought in a different state than there the crime occurred.

While Florida ranks low in per capita statistics – accounting for 14.2 guns exported per 100,000 residents against a national average of 14.1 guns per 100,000 residents – it is second behind Georgia in the total number of guns from the state that have been traced to crimes in other states.

The group of mayors fear that many of the guns were illegally purchased and the study cites 10 key state laws that can help curb the illegal gun trafficking. Florida has enacted just two of them – criminal penalties for buying a firearm with false information and selling a gun without a proper background check.

Florida does not require background checks for handgun sales at gun shows, require a purchase permit for all handgun sales or require the reporting of lost or stolen guns to law enforcement.

The state also doesn't have criminal penalties for buying a gun for someone who is not allowed to purchase a firearm, give law enforcement discretion in issuing concealed weapons permits, prohibit violent misdemeanor offenders from possessing guns, allow inspections or gun dealers or allow local governments to enact gun laws, the study points out.

Some states, such as New York and New Jersey, have all 10 laws on their books and they have some of the lowest rates of crime gun movement in the nation. Hawaii, which has nine of 10 laws, has the lowest rate at 2.3 guns per 100,000 residents. That state does not require lost or stolen guns to be reported.

When it comes to sheer numbers, Florida ranked second in 2009 with 2,640 guns from the state traced to crimes in other states, 141 less than Georgia. It was also 94 less than Florida had in 2008 when it ranked third.

But guns are also flowing into Florida, the same report shows. The study traced 2,655 used in crimes in Florida that came from other states.

Ten states that have the highest per capita of guns being used in crimes in other states -- Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alaska, Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Nevada and Georgia – account for almost half of the crime guns, the study shows.

"Gun trace data is an invaluable tool for the over 500 mayors in our coalition along with the police chiefs and prosecutors they work with every day," New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a press release. He is co-chairman of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

"Our report reveals that states with weak gun laws are the top sources of guns recovered in out-of-state crimes," Bloomberg went on to say. "The stakes are high: 12,000 people per year are murdered with guns in the United States. There is urgent work to be done by policy makers at all levels to strengthen enforcement of the laws we have on the books, and to close gaps in state and federal law."