A look into the prosecution of illegal gun possession

Democrats want stricter gun laws. Republicans oppose them, or even want to roll some back.

But just how well are the laws on the books even being enforced?

Critics of gun control expansion frequently claim that the existing laws are underenforced.

"Prosecuting criminals who misuse firearms works," Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, told the U.S. Senate in 2013. "Unfortunately, we've seen a dramatic collapse in federal gun prosecutions in recent years."

Indeed, federal gun cases brought to trial have dropped significantly. But that isn’t the whole story.

According to data from the United States Courts, federal prosecutions peaked in the mid-2000s, with more than 10 thousand defendants brought to trial each year. In the last decade, the average has dropped to roughly 8-9 thousand each year.

But creating a comprehensive picture of illegal firearm charges is a gargantuan task. Charges are handled and prosecuted differently between state and county jurisdictions.

According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a research institute based at Syracuse University, the majority of federal gun charges between 2009 and 2012 were for possession by a felon. Other federal violations include illegal gun sales across state lines, and possessing a gun while committing a violent crime.

TRAC’s research also suggests that whether feds get involved depends on the severity of the state statutes. If the federal law calls for a longer prison sentence than a state law, for example, prosecutors may decide to pursue prosecution in a federal court.

Therefore, looking at a regional map of gun prosecutions might not reveal where illegal gun crime is happening as much as it might reveal where the local laws are more or less strict than the federal laws.

The most recent regional prosecution data available spans April 2015 through March 2016. Topping the list of federal prosecution were:

• Puerto Rico, with 402 defendants

• The Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, with 313 and 277 defendants respectively

• The Northern and Southern Districts of Texas, with 241 and 239 defendants respectively

The sudden increase of federal prosecution in Puerto Rico is a case of government prosecutors flexing their muscles in an area long at odds with federal jurisdiction.

The territory used to have strict licensing requirements before a class action lawsuit resulted in those laws being deemed unconstitutional in 2015, with no local restrictions on purchasing on carrying. Federal prosecutors fill the vacuum left by a region lacking in laws of their own.

A similar vacuum of local legal enforcement is taking place in Missouri.

Amendment 5 to Missouri’s state constitution passed in August 2014 with 60 percent of the vote. The ballot measure subjects gun laws to strict scrutiny (meaning a compelling government interest). This means that even the lifetime firearm ban for felons is under question.

"I knew that offenders from every corner from the state of Missouri were going to attempt to reap the benefit of this change," county prosecutor Jean Peters Baker told St. Louis Public Radio. "I'm very concerned. It's just a shame for a prosecutor to lose this kind of tool."

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