Pubdate: Tue, 06 Jan 2004
Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2004 Fayetteville Observer
Contact:  http://www.fayettevillenc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150

AIM ACCURATELY

Target Enforcement Dollars to the Source

Illegal gun purchases in Cumberland County make it easier for drug 
traffickers along the East Coast to kill. It's a violent business to feed, 
even if unwittingly. The federal government should shut down that pipeline.

North Carolina is a source state for black market weapons, according to a 
Saturday article by Observer staff writer Robert Boyer. The Fayetteville 
office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 
covers 14 counties and makes more arrests than any other office in the 
state. This is a sign that Cumberland County is a significant supplier of 
guns to criminals. Enforcement resources directed this way are taking guns 
out of the hands of criminals from Fayetteville to New York City.

Slowing the supply of illegal weapons won't stop the flow of drugs into 
cities. But it would make the trade less bloody. Drug-related violence 
undermined public safety in U.S. cities in the early 1990s when dealer turf 
wars carried over into movie theaters, shopping centers and malls until 
enforcement efforts finally matched criminal firepower. Experience proves 
that tough enforcement makes a difference.

But new laws aren't the answer. As the National Rifle Association and other 
gun-control opponents correctly point out, we already have plenty of gun 
laws on the books. But the laws are meaningless when they are not enforced. 
North Carolina would make better use of funds and time in buffing up 
enforcement efforts rather than in writing legislation. On the federal 
level, responsible use of enforcement dollars means putting them where they 
will make a difference. And that would be in gun-source states and cities, 
like this one.

Fayetteville police have received a federal grant to hire a technician who 
will trace guns involved in crimes. This is one more step toward shutting 
down the illegal-guns pipeline. But it's not enough.

North Carolina needs more agents, more technology. If the crimes begin 
here, this is where the funding should be concentrated.

New York legislators are natural allies for North Carolina in this quest. 
Cutting off the flow of illegal guns from North Carolina will make New York 
cities safer.

Joe Lencyzk, the agent in charge of the Fayetteville ATF office, said that 
wherever illegal gun trafficking flourishes, more crime and violence are 
the result. The end of this ugly trade will benefit Cumberland County, not 
just New York.

Federal authorities know where the guns come from that wind up in the hands 
of New York City drug dealers. Enforcement funding, spent in Cumberland 
County, would be a perfectly aimed federal response to a nationwide 
criminal enterprise.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager