[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 74 (Monday, May 19, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S6614]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          THE ENFORCEMENT GAP

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, earlier this week, the Americans for Gun 
Safety Foundation released a report entitled the Enforcement Gap: 
Federal Gun Laws Ignored, analyzing the Justice Department's commitment 
to enforcing and prosecuting gun laws. The report examines prosecution 
data acquired under the Freedom of Information Act from the Justice 
Department for fiscal years 2000 through 2002. The AGS study reveals a 
significant gap between the number of Federal gun crimes committed and 
the number of Federal prosecutions initiated.
  The report found that 20 of the 22 major Federal gun laws are rarely 
prosecuted. The two statutes consistently enforced by Federal 
prosecutors are laws against the use of a firearm in the commission of 
a Federal crime and a felon in possession of a firearm. The other 20 
laws address other illegal firearm activity, including gun trafficking, 
firearm theft, lying on a criminal background check form, removing 
firearm serial numbers, and selling guns to minors.
  The statistics in the AGS report are startling. According to AGS, in 
the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, Federal prosecutors filed 
197 cases for gun trafficking, despite 100,000 guns showing signs of 
trafficking. Only 27 cases were filed against corrupt gun dealers, even 
though AGS reports that gun dealers are the leading source of firearms 
recovered in gun trafficking operations. Prosecutors in 22 States filed 
no cases against individuals committing the 20 least prosecuted crimes. 
Across the country, only seven cases for illegally selling a gun to a 
minor were filed, even though more than 30,000 gun crimes were 
committed by youths age 17 or under. Only 202 cases were filed for 
possessing or selling a stolen firearm, despite nearly 140,000 reported 
gun thefts that year in which the make, model, and serial number of a 
stolen gun was reported to police. And a mere 98 cases for possessing 
or selling a firearm with an obliterated serial number were prosecuted, 
despite thousands of these guns being recovered in just a few cities in 
one year.
  I believe vigorous law enforcement is a critical step toward reducing 
gun violence. I urge the Justice Department to step up its efforts to 
prosecute not only people who commit gun crimes but those corrupt 
dealers who put guns in criminal hands.

                          ____________________