[CAMDEN, NJ ] Michael Johnson already made a connection between guns and violence when a teenage relative was shot outside of Camden High School last year.
On Thursday afternoon, Johnson learned about the gun trafficking connection between Camden and Pennsylvania when he overheard a news conference outside the federal courthouse on Cooper Street.
Johnson's relative, 16-year-old Antwan Searles, was shot outside Camden High school on Oct. 19 by a 15-year-old city resident.
"It's easier to get a gun than your driver's license," said Johnson, 25, who was planting flowers outside the courthouse.
Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire NJ, held the press conference to discuss data he recently obtained from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that reveals that the number of guns making their way into Camden from Pennsylvania is increasing.
"Pennsylvania's lax gun laws result in putting guns in the hands of felons and violent teens in Camden, who use those guns to wound, maim, and kill every day," said Miller.
Miller cited a 2000 ATF youth crime report that found that guns from Pennsylvania accounted for 23.5 percent of guns recovered in Camden. Miller was able to obtain reports from 2003 and 2004 that show those same numbers have risen to 40 percent. Miller said gun trafficking between the cities of Philadelphia and Camden has grown more "efficient and deadly" in just two years.
"The same two years during which violent crime grew to such a height in Camden that it gained the dubious distinction of being named "America's Most Dangerous City" saw a dramatic increase in illegal guns coming across the bridges from Philly to Camden," he said.
According to the recent ATF data, 173 out of 225 guns were traced in Camden in 2004, and the majority came from defendants between the ages of 18 and 24. The Camden County Prosecutor's Office recovered 252 traceable guns used in crimes in 2003 and 2004 -- 36 percent came from Pennsylvania, and 50 percent from throughout the Carolinas, Florida, Virginia and Georgia.
Miller said Pennsylvania laws allow buyers to immediately purchase multiple guns at one time with only one federal background check. New Jersey on the other hand, has a two-week waiting period with an individual background check for each gun purchased. Buyers often go to Pennsylvania, make large purchases and redistribute the guns back in New Jersey, Miller said. Ceasefire and Pennsylvania-based gun control groups are petitioning lawmakers to pass a one-gun-per-30-day rule.
Miller, who would not say how he obtained the data, said the ATF should make the information public immediately. He noted that Sen. Robert Menendez, D-Hoboken, and Rep. Steven R. Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, had planned to introduce legislation that would require the ATF to release the data.
ATF regional spokesman John Hageman said the ATF is prohibited from releasing information that is derived from from licensed gun dealerships.
Reports, like the one distributed by Miller, are typically produced for law enforcement use.
Hageman can not alter the gun laws in either state, but the agency actively pursues violations nationwide. He pointed out the recent arrest of three men who traveled to a Philadelphia gun store and purchased three Glock handguns with a fraudulently obtained Pennsylvania driver's license. All three guns were brought back to Camden.
Wren Ingram, acting director of Fairview's Weed and Seed Committee, said an AK-47 that was used in a 2004 Fairview shooting originated in Georgia and traveled to Pennsylvania before it fell into the hands of an 18-year-old Camden man.
Ingram said proximity to local bridges and strong drug enforcement in other areas of Camden have pushed violent crime into Fairview.
"It's a Catch-22," she said. "The effects of the HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) Task Force have displaced many drug dealers. Unfortunately, they go to other parts of Camden."
Camden police Capt. Joseph F. Richardson said his department was aware of the report. He said guns would still make their way into Camden, regardless of any new legislation in Pennsylvania.
"Let's say hypothetically, for one year, no guns come over from Philadelphia. The criminal element will procure weapons from another state or another city," he said.
Richardson said social issues need to be addressed in order to counteract the financial need for a drug trade and the gun violence that comes with it.
"No matter what laws we pass or what we do, our society has to be improved," he said. "We're still going to have trouble with guns until that happens."
Phone calls to Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell's office as well as the office of Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson were not returned.
Acting Camden County Prosecutor James Lynch declined to comment on the information obtained by Miller.
Reach Jason Nark at (856) 486-2473 or jnark@courierpostonline.com
