Californias Gun and Ammo Pipline

8/3/2019 Californias Gun and Ammo Pipline

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SnNerp Spr,ncr ComurrrEE oNInnnnrcnATroN ND THE ECoNoMy

SENATOR EVIN DE LEONCHAIRMAN

California's Gun nd Am nition Pipeline othe Me an Drug rtels

\. -STATE CAPITOL, ROOM 5108 . SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 95814 USA . TEL (916) 65I-4022. FAX (916) 327-8817

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BACKGROUND

Mexican rug rafficking rganizations long he U.S.-Mexico order ave beenterrorizing itizens n both countries, nd his violence s being ueled by what hefederal Bureau f Alcohol, obacco, irearms nd Explosives ATF)describes s an"iron iverof guns"-the flowof thousands f illegalU.S. irearms o Mexico.

Since he start of Mexican resident elipeCalderon's dministrationn December2006, aw enforcement gencies n Mexico ave confiscated 02,600 andguns ndrifles s of March 10,2011, nd Mexican ecurityorces ave eized 1,849 renadesand 10.6 million ounds f ammunition. iolence long he border as escalatedsignificantly,nd over34,612 eople ave ost heir ives s a result f organized rime-related iolence.

fn May 2010, he Mexican overnment tated hat of the 75,000 llegal irearms eizedin the ast hree years, approximately 0%-60,000 firearms-came rom he United

States. Estimates f guns lowing nto Mexico rom he United States re as high as2,000 irearms er day, and according o ATF irearm race equests rom Mexico, tappears ha t a majority fthese irearms ave a nexus o the United States.

Primary Gun Trafficking noutes rom the United States nto Mexico

*MapSource: Firearms rafficking:.S.Effortso Combat rms Traffickingo Mexico ace Planning ndCoordinationhallenges"U.S.Government ccountabilityffice,une 009)

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There rean estimated ,479 ederally-licensedun endors perating long he U.S.-Mexico o rder, nd several TF officialsite he problem f"straw urchasing" s partof he scheme hatenables irearms rafficking. TFalso notes hat he most ommonmethod f ransportingllegalirearms cross he border s by vehicle singU.S.highways, nd hat an opportune ime o catch mugglers s ollowing gunshow nArizona r Texas.

Fofowinghe expiration f he ederal ssaultWeapons an n 2004, t has becomeeasier o purchase igh-poweredssault eapons, he United tates Department fJustice DOJ),Office f he nspector eneral as eported hat48o/o f crime unsrecovered nd raced n Mexicon 2009were ong uns, p rom20o/on 2004, ndrecent ataalso hows surge n he seizure fassault ifles nd 50 caliber uns.Accordingo he ATF, Mexican rug artels end o avormilitary-stylessault eaponssuch s AK-47s, R-15s, ndFN5.7mm aliber istols, nownn Mexico s "copkillers" ecause hey an pierce ody rmor.

CALIFORN|A'S UNCONTROL AWSOver he years,Californiaas enacted uncontrol oliciesha thave urbed he llegalpurchase f irearms,ncludingnassault eapons an, igh-capacitymmunitionmagazine an,Brady riminalackgroundhecks orallgun ales includinghose tgunshows), nd he stateDOJmaintenance f handgun urchase ecords. naddition,Governor erryBrown ecently igned ssembly ill 809 Feuer, h.745, tatutes f2011), hichwill equire he California epartment f Justice o also etain he ecordsof ong unpurchasernformation.

The ack f similarawsat he ederal evel nd n other order tates as contributedothe ise of irearms raffickingrom he U.S. nto Mexico.Whilellegal eapons recrossing alifornia's order ntoMexico,hi sstate s notconsidered top source tate"because ost f he irearms ecoveredn Mexico nd raced ack o he U.S. re no toriginallyurchased n California.n a federal awenforcement nalysis f 2,921firearms eized etween ecember 006 nd November 010, 0%of he gunswerefromTexas,29o/o ere rom Arizona, ndonly3%wereoriginallyurchased nCalifornia.

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Background hecks or all Handgun ales t Gun Shows

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Requirlng Universal ackground hecks t he Jime of Purchaseforall Gun Sales

Bequlring Eackgfound hecks t theTlnre f Purchase or allHandgun Saler

Requiring ad(ground hsks attheTime ofPurchaJe l 6unShows NoCheckRequired or Other PrivateSdles)

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Rounds f Ammunitlon elzed y ATFDestlned ar Mexicorom2006*2011

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Here n California, ssembly ill 962 De Le6n,Ch .628,Statutes f2009) nacted hefirst-in{he-nationtatewideegulation f ammunition. hi smeasure rovidesawenforcement ith mportantools n combating rime y making t llegalo knowinglysellhandgun mmunitiono prohibitedersons r hose ubjecto a gang njunction(targeting traw urchasers),equiringmmunitionendors o keep ecords f whopurchases andgun mmunition,equiringace-to-faceransactionsorpurchasesmade ia he nternet r mail atalog o prevent ircumventionf he purchaser atacollection,nd equiring ehind he counter torage f ammunitiono deter heft.

However, nJanuary '1,2011,he State uperior ourtn Fresno ountyssued ninjunctionn Parker . Sfafe f Californiao enjoin he mplementationndenforcement

ofAB962. Theappeal y he Californiattorney enerals currentlyending.CURRENT TATE ND LOCALEFFORTS

fn February 010, he California mergency anagement gency CalEMA) asawarded $3.3millionrant unded hrough he ederalAmerican ecovery ndReinvestment ctof 2009 ARRA)o create he Firearms raffickingask Force(FTTF)-a partnershipask orce ha t ncludeshe California OJ,California ighway

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Patrol CHP), an DiegoCounty heriffs epartment, nd mperial ounty heriff'sDepartment. hisgroupworks n collaboration ith he ederalATF o dentify ndprosecute irearms raffickers. hisone-timeederalgrants slated o und he askforce or 2 lz years, nd ends une 0, 2012.

At the ocal evel, arious awenforcement gencies reengaged n efforts o curbfirearms raffickingnd other rimes hat have "border exus" uchas drug rafficking.Forexample, he San DiegoCounty heriffs epartment pearheads perationStonegarden OPSG), hich oordinates 7 ocal nd state awenforcement genciesworkingn an ntegrated pproacho combat he multi-facetedspects f border-relatedcrimes. n2008, hi sprogram eceivedts nitial rant f$5.5millionrom he U.S.Department f Homeland ecurityDHS), ndwas subsequentlyllocated 13.7millionin2009 nd$8.9mill ionn2010.

The San DiegoSheriffs epartment lso eceived one-time 5 millionrant rom heU.S.DOJunder RRA n 2009 o help unda Border rime uppression eam BCST),

which onducts ngoingargeted atrolso address rimes ased n border-relatedthreat ntelligence. urrently,here s no sustained unding ource dentifiedor hisoperation eyond Y 2010.

DEVELOPMENTST THEFEDERAL EVEL

ln Jufy2011, he U.S.DOJannounced new ederal olicyha twill equire ll ederalfirearms icensees n he southwest order tates f Texas, rizona, ewMexico, ndCaliforniao submit report o ATFwhenever n ndividualurchases woor morerifles,ncluding ssault ifles, ithin ivebusiness ays. This eporting as alreadyrequiredor multiple andgun urchases, nd hisexpanded olicy illnowalertATF opotential traw uyers hat are purchasingarge umbers f semi-automaticiflesha thave etachable agazines nda caliber f greater han 22. TheATFestimates hatthispolicy illgenerate 8,000 eports nnually.

The Senate udiciary ommittee nd he HouseOversight ndGovernment eformCommittee re ointlynvestigatinghe controversialactics sed n he ATF'sPhoenix-based Operation ast nd Furious, hich he U.S.DOJhas acknowledgeds inked oillegalweaponshathave een ecovered t crime cenes n both he United tates ndMexico,U.S.Attorney eneral ric Holder as also ordered he U.S. nspector eneralto conduct n ndependentnvestigationf hisprogram.

Launchedn 2009,Operation ast nd Furious, odeled ffa similar 006 program

(Operation ideReceiver) sed he actic f sellingirearmso suspected traw uyersand hen deliberatelyllowingheseweapons o "walk" cross he border ith heintention f rackinghe guns o Mexican rug artels. Outof he approximately,000firearmshat llegally nteredMexico, everal undred ere not ntercepted nd heirwhereabouts ecame nknown. here s now mmense crutiny f his ailed trategy,and he ederal nvestigationsnto hisprogram re ongoing.

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RECENT EPORTS NDSTUDIES

. HaltingU.S.Firearms Traffickingo Mexico,Report y Senators DianneFeinstein, harles chumer ndSheldon hitehouse o he United tatesSenate aucus n nternational arcotics ontrol,une 011.

. Outgunned: aw Enforcement gentsWarnCongress hey ackAdequateTools o Counter llegalFirearms rafficking, inority taffReportPrepared orRanking ember lijah .Cummings, ommittee nOversight nd GovernmentReform,une 011.

o Update n U.S. Firearms raffickingo Mexico, olbyGoodman, oodrowWilsonnternationalenter orScholars-Mexiconstitute, pril 011.

o Q.S.Firearms raffickingo Mexico:NewData and lnsights lluminate eyTrends nd Challenges, olbyGoodman ndMichelMarizco, oodrow ilsonInternational enter orScholars-Mexiconstitute, eptembe 201 .

o Firearms rafficking; .S. Efforts o Combat ArmsTraffickingo Mexico FacePlanning nd Coordination hallenges, .S.Government ccountability ffice(GAO), une 009.

. lron River:Gun Violence lllegalFirearms raffickingn the U.S.-MexicoBorder, iolence olicy enter, pril 009.

o ExportingGun Violence: owOur Weak Gun Laws ArmCriminalsn Mexico ndAmerica,

Report y he Brady enter o Prevent unViolence, arch 009,

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Documents

Californias Gun and Ammo Pipline