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Guns making long journey to The City
Cops trace path of 25 weapons from around country.
Story by Alison Soltau
Guns are flooding into the hands of local criminals from across the nation, with weapons originating in Massachusetts and Utah being found at local crime scenes, San Francisco police say.
A study tracing 25 guns seized from crime scenes and unregistered owners over the past two months found that the weapons had traveled thousands of miles.
However, cops say it still does not answer the million-dollar question: How are some of The City's most dangerous felons getting their hands on them?
"That's the thing we still don't know," said Bayview District Captain Rick Bruce, who ordered the trace after concerned residents asked him that very question.
Bruce said that was the line of inquiry police should now tackle.
The trace, completed by the department's Crime Scenes Investigation Unit with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, pinpointed where firearms were first sold and their original buyer.
Of the 25 guns, nine were 9mm or .380 semiautomatics, while the rest were standard revolvers. They were in the possession of people from gun enthusiasts to career criminals, and were picked up by police in incidents possibly ranging from simple illegal possession cases to shootings, Bruce said.
Some of the weapons came from gun dealers in Oregon, Massachusetts, Colorado, Utah and Virginia, while one .40 caliber gun found its way from the police department of Renton, Washington, to local streets.
Most of the buyers were legitimate Bay Area purchasers, but the guns somehow then wound up in the hands of felons, who are not authorized to carry firearms in California.
Some were manufactured before the introduction of mandatory serial numbers in 1968 and could not be traced.
None were assault weapons, although those guns have dominated the spotlight this year, having turned up in several high-profile crimes including the Easter slaying of police Officer Isaac Espinoza, killed with an AK-47.
Police have expressed concern that although assault weapons are illegal in California, the recent lapse of a federal ban on the firearms may result in more being smuggled in from neighboring states with less restrictive laws.
