NCJ Number
191753
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 29 Issue: 5 Dated: September/October 2001 Pages: 379-388
Date Published
2001
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article reports on analyses that examined how youth and juveniles have acquired firearms.
Abstract
Several studies that have attempted to address shortcomings of previous studies have examined actual cases of the criminal diversion of firearms. One such study examined 131 closed cases of "dealing without a license" between 1974 and 1976 in seven Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) regional offices. The trafficking organizations involved were supplied both by thefts from residences and through purchases from licensed dealers. The study concluded that the trafficking organizations involved were quite small and did relatively little business. The only other such case review examined 28 trafficking investigations conducted by ATF in the Los Angeles area between 1992 and 1995. Its findings were strikingly different. Three-quarters of the diverted firearms were purchased at wholesale. The question about whether illegal firearms markets serving youth and juveniles can be disrupted has been debated in the academic literature on firearms and firearms crime. One view is that illegal gun market disruption strategies are ineffective because virtually all crime guns are stolen or obtained from non-retail sources. Another view is that such strategies could be effective, because illicit firearms markets that involve the improper diversion of firearms from retail sources are an important source of guns for youth and juveniles. The research reviewed in this article shows that firearms are illegally diverted to youth and juveniles through a variety of firearms trafficking pathways, including unlicensed dealers, corrupt licensed dealers, and "straw" purchasers. 7 tables, 5 notes, and 19 references