On a day when a prominent member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns was found guilty on corruption charges I thought it would be interesting to post some of this organization's "research" regarding the effectiveness of ammunition logging. What follows is an excerpt from a January 2008 document on the group's website entitled The Abell Report.
Federal law prohibits the sale of
ammunition to convicted felons, anyone
subject to a restraining order and anyone
under the age of 21. Maryland law also
prohibits the sale of handgun ammunition
to anyone under the age of 21.
However, studies have shown that
dealers around the country do not always
enforce such laws. Recognizing that,
police in Baltimore County and Baltimore
City have both recently focused on
ammunition purchases.
Baltimore County police have
reached voluntary agreements with some
ammunition dealers to maintain a log
that records the names and addresses of
all people purchasing ammunition.
In Baltimore City, police are taking
advantage of a city code provision that
requires all ammunition dealers to maintain
such a log – a provision added to the
city health code in 2003 and intended to
stop minors from purchasing ammunition.
Police say they are using ammunition
log entries to develop important
leads into illegal gun possession. In September
and October alone, Baltimore
police seized more than 50 illegal guns
through leads developed by scrutinizing
ammunition logs.
Research suggests that such leads are
likely to continue to provide information
about illegal guns. A 2006 study in Los
Angeles found that 2.6 percent of the
people purchasing ammunition had a prior
felony conviction or were otherwise
prohibited from possessing ammunition.
During a two-month period studied,
researchers concluded, convicted felons
or others prohibited from purchasing
ammunition nonetheless bought 10,050
rounds of ammunition in Los Angeles.
The entire document can be found here.
Here are MAIG's core principals:
- Punish - to the maximum extent of the law - criminals who possess, use, and traffic in illegal guns.
- Target and hold accountable irresponsible gun dealers who break the law by
knowingly selling guns to straw purchasers.
-
Oppose all federal efforts to restrict cities' right to access, use, and
share trace data that is so essential to effective enforcement, or to interfere
with the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to combat
illegal gun trafficking.
- Work to develop and use technologies that aid in the detection and tracing of
illegal guns.
-
Support all local state and federal legislation that targets illegal guns;
coordinate legislative, enforcement, and litigation strategies; and share
information and best practices.
- Invite other cities to join us in this new national effort.
The first few goals could be called rational and actually already met. The rest are unsettling and familiar to anyone who lives in California. AB 962 certainly qualifies as an organizational goal. If your local mayor is a member of MAIG be sure to let them know how you feel about their support of an organization whose sole purpose is to deprive you of your second amendment rights.
MAIG Members: http://mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/members/members.shtml