BONNIE PFISTER
Associated Press
May 17, 2006
TRENTON, N.J. - Two days after New York's mayor announced lawsuits against several out-of-state gun shops, New Jersey legislators, law enforcement officials and gun control advocates renewed their call for stricter enforcement against illegal gun trafficking across state lines.
Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer and activists from Ceasefire NJ and the Million Mom March said Wednesday that many violent crimes are committed with firearms purchased by "straw purchasers." Those buyers submit paperwork at gun shops only to give the weapon to someone else - often a convicted felon who would not pass federal background checks.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms indicates that in 2001 - the last time the bureau publicly released the information - firearms used in Garden State crimes overwhelmingly came from out of the state.
"What's happening in our cities all across America is domestic terrorism," Palmer said. "We talk about homeland security; we need hometown security. Law enforcement needs every tool available to track these guns."
Palmer said he is "keeping all options open" when it comes to suing gun vendors, an idea that was discussed last month at a meeting of a dozen mayors from around the country. On Monday New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg sued 15 gun shops in Pennsylvania and four other states, saying they violated federal law by selling to straw purchasers.
Guns purchased in Pennsylvania are especially numerous in Camden, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. Camden County prosecutors say of the 252 guns recovered in 2003 and 2004 that could be traced to their original point of sale, 36 percent came from Pennsylvania.
Even at the opposite edge of New Jersey, guns recovered by police increasingly are coming from the Keystone State. Of the 74 traceable firearms recovered in Hudson County in 2005 that were originally sold out of state, almost 18 percent - 13 guns - came from Pennsylvania, according to data The Associated Press obtained Wednesday through an Open Public Records Act request. In 2000, only one traceable gun came from Pennsylvania.
"To me, it makes perfect sense to sue the gun shops where a disproportionate number of these weapons apparently come from," said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio, whose jurisdiction includes Jersey City.
"The easy availability of guns, especially semiautomatic pistols, has to be abated," DeFazio said. "Any new methods of trying to achieve that goal should be applauded."
In recent years, Congress has restricted the amount of detail on gun tracing that the ATF may share with the public. Sen. Robert Menendez and Rep. Steve Rothman, both New Jersey Democrats, have co-sponsored legislation to undo those restrictions.
State Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, a Mercer County Democrat and prosecutor in Trenton, has authored a bill that would require the attorney general to compile that data.
That initiative, along with several other anti-gang bills, will be discussed Thursday at the Assembly's Law and Public Safety Committee hearing.
"It's part of the puzzle of combatting gang violence," Gusciora said. "More and more guns are seeping into the streets. New Jersey should find out how they're getting here and whether we can pressure other states to tighten their gun restrictions."
Palmer, mayor of a city that saw a record 31 homicides last year - 21 of which authorities say involved gang members as shooters or victims - said he plans to visit Harrisburg next month to ask Pennsylvania lawmakers to crack down on lawbreaking gun vendors in that state.
