NJ takes steps to answer "Where did the gun come from?"

The Newark shooting is just one more tragic example of the carnage caused with illegal guns. The shooters were legally prohibited from having guns, but found a way to get them nonetheless. How?

The gun lobby will tell you criminals will always find a way, and the best we can do is lock up perpetrators after-the-fact. But Gov. Corzine knows that by giving law enforcement the tools they need to answer Where did the gun come from? authorities can crack down on traffickers and stop tragedies like the one in Newark before they happen.

Nancyrob

NEWS RELEASE:                                       FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Governor Jon S. Corzine                           Press Office - 609-777-2600
August 15, 2007


GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES HISTORIC PARTNERSHIP WITH ATF TO TRACE ILLEGAL FIREARMS

TRENTON - Governor Jon S. Corzine, along with Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia division of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Mark Potter, Attorney General Anne Milgram and New Jersey State Police Superintendent Colonel Rick Fuentes today announced a historic agreement between New Jersey and the ATF that will allow the state to more effectively trace the sources of illegal firearms through real-time electronic access to the ATF's e-Trace system.

"Gun violence in New Jersey and across America is stealing young lives and killing innocent people. Together, we must all do more to provide security for our communities and families," Corzine said. "This new, first-in-the-nation partnership will allow us to pursue, arrest and prosecute the purchasers and sellers of illegal guns that have plagued our streets and communities for far too long."

E-trace is a nationwide database maintained by the ATF that lists a firearm's first purchaser, date of purchase and the retailer from which it was purchased. The information is compiled from police records of gun purchases provided by local departments, but until today was only accessible by the ATF and the police department that provided it.

"Firearms tracing identifies the illegal source of firearms and provides law enforcement invaluable leads to target firearms traffickers," said Special Agent Potter.  "The New Jersey State Police and ATF have partnered in this country's first of a kind state clearing house for gun tracing.  The importance of this project cannot be minimized:  comprehensive firearms tracing saves lives."

"This is a critically important partnership to help us trace illegal guns that are used in crimes in New Jersey," Attorney General Anne Milgram said. "It will help us use intelligence-led policing to catch criminals and stop the spread of illegal guns."

The Attorney General also announced today that she is issuing a directive to all police departments in the state that will require the departments to forward all gun tracing information to E-Trace to create a data-base that can be shared by all law enforcement in the state. Currently, only 30 percent of local departments across the nation provide firearm sourcing information to the e-Trace system.

The new agreement will give the State Police real-time access to the system. State Police personnel at the Regional Operations Intelligence Center (the ROIC) will be on site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to identify source purchasers, source states, source vendors, types of weapons, dates of first purchases and individuals trafficking firearms into or within New Jersey.

"Partnering with the ATF, the New Jersey State Police will now have direct access to national firearms purchasing data.  This will streamline the tracing of illegal firearms back to the source, giving us a better shot at finding and arresting the person who pulled the trigger," said Colonel Rick Fuentes.

Additionally, Governor Corzine has asked Colonel Fuentes to work with law enforcement partners in the Northeast region to encourage them to enter into similar agreements with ATF.

In 2006, 4,743 individuals were arrested in New Jersey for possession of illegal firearms.

Comments

[thirdpower]

Wait a minute. Hasn't it been stated that the data isn't allowed to be shared between jurisdictions? This states it can be.

[SaintGaudens1907]

I'm all for making it harder for criminals to obtain guns but by definition they disregard all legal regulations.

States like New Jersey have essentially made a mockery of the Second Amendment with its cumbersome licensing/ownership system and bans on certain guns. Gun control advocates often see firearms as "not necessary" and a "cause" of crime and violence and hence do not want anyone owning them at all. Well publicized acts of violence are predictably met with calls to "crack down" on legal owners/sellers of firearms and increase regulations even more (creating an operational ban for the average citizen and doing nothing to stop those who had no intention of following the rules to begin with).

So where do you draw the line and say enough regulations (you know, the ones the criminals ignore) and respect the right to keep and bear arms? I don't see the "gun control lobby" letting up anytime soon.