Transcript Reiter_Tita_PAGV

The Illegal Gun Market in Los
Angeles: Within city changes
over time
Melissa Barragan, Kelsie Chesnut, Jason Gravel,
Nicole Sherman, Natalie Pifer, La
Keramet Reiter, & George Tita
UC Irvine: Criminology, Law and Society
Overview
• How is the illegal gun market in
LA today different from early
2000s (Ridgeway, Pierce, Braga, Tita, Wintemute,
& Roberts 2004)
LA’s Illegal Firearm Market in
early 2000s
Analysis of
ATF/DROS Data
•
Diffuse sources
• Lack of rogue FFLs
• No large cache of weapons
traced by to singular
individual
•
Market is (very) local
• No “iron pipeline”
• Possessor lives close to
purchaser(s)
• Not only intra-state, intracounty
Our Conclusions:
• Continue “regular”
enforcement
• Consistent w “straw
purchases”  letter writing
campaign
LA’s Current Illegal Firearm
Market
Jail Surveys
• Diffuse sources
• Gangs/Drug dealers as
point sources?
• Not a lot of evidence of
“straw purchases”
• “Thick” market
• Passive transactions
Our Conclusions:
• Continue “regular”
enforcement
• Change Behavior
• Safe storage
• Reduce
opportunity/demand for
passive transactions
Methods & Data Collection
• Site: LA County Jail System (3 facilities)
• January thru October 2014
• Inmates detained on gun-related charges
• Semi-structured, in-person interviews (45-120
minutes)
Sampling Criteria
Felon with FA
96.51%
PC 29800(A)(1); PC 12021; PC 12021(A)1; PC 12021(C )1; PC 12021(E)
Concealed Carry FA (vehicle or person)
41.0%
PC 12025(A)1; PC 12025(A)2
Prohibited possessor with ammo (PC 30305(A)1)
14.8%
Assault with FA (PC 245(A)(2))
Assault with semi-automatic FA (PC 245(B))
Carrying loaded FA (PC 12031(A)1)
Carrying FA (PC 12020(A))
14.5%
Possession short-barreled rifle/shotgun (PC 33215)
Armed during Felony (PC 12022.2)
Prohibited transaction (PC 12072(D))
1.2%
2.8%
2.6%
2.3%
0.1%
0.1%
Data Collection
• 1,549 eligible inmates over study, excluding
anyone flagged for mental illness
• Random sample from eligible pool
• n=140 completed interviews
Possession, Selling and
Victimization
• Possession:
• Only 63% (88/140) of all respondents admit possession
• Just over 80% (53/66) of gang members admit possession
• Sold a Firearm:
• Less than 14% (19/140) of all respondents have ever sold
a gun
• Almost 20% (15/66) of gang members sold a gun
• Shot at/Victim of gun violence:
• Almost 40% (55/140) of sample
• Almost 55% (36/66) of gang members
Sources of Guns
Type
Illegal
Purchase
/Trade
Gift
Found
Legal
TOTAL
Purchase
Long guns
5
7
3
2
17
Handguns
(pistol/revolver)
44
10
3
1
58
TOTAL
49
(65.33%)
17
(22.67%)
6
(8.0%)
3
(4.0%)
75
Notes: Only 75 respondents shared source information
If a gun was purchased “illegally”, then it was most likely to be a handgun.
Unpacking Illegal
Transactions
• The importance of knowing someone, being “from there”
•
The role of gangs is not clear
• Brokers who bring guns into community
• Organize burglaries (home and auto) around guns (LAPD)
• The direct/indirect impacts of drug markets
• Barter directly for drugs (LAPD)
• Steal, sell to support habit
• The Police
• San Diego/Mexico
• Straw Purchases
Passive Transactions
• More than 1/3 of our respondents basically said
they didn’t find the gun, the gun found them
“They get them like on the streets. It's pretty easy. You
might meet a guy, you might get a phone call to say,
‘Hey, I got this for sale, I know someone who got this
for sale. They want such and such, couple hundred.’
And, ‘Shoot, I'm on my way. Tell him to meet me over
here.’ It's pretty easy. It's like selling a CD. They're
pretty common on the streets.”
-(Respondent 56)
Coerced Transaction:
“Somebody asked me do I want to buy it, I told them no,
then they said, ‘what do you do? Do you gangbang?’ I said
no, they said, ‘so you walk around here?’ I'm like yeah, they
like, ‘so you walk around here, you don’t gangbang?’ I'm
like no. He was like, ‘so what do you do for a living? I'm like
‘well, I do rap. I be in the studios and stuff,’ and he's like, ‘so
you're a rapper and you be having jewelry and everything,
you don’t have no gun to protect yourself ?’ Pretty much
persuaded me, so I bought it, but then I end up going to jail
for it.”
-(Respondent 99)
More Similar Than Different
CHICAGO
• Sources: Gangs, Drug
Market, Theft, Police,
Rouge FFLs
• No local access to legal
market
• Trust v Cash (fear of buybust)
LOS ANGELES
• Sources: Gangs, Drug
Market, Police, Theft
• No need for access to legal
market (LAPD)
• Trust v Cash (LAPD
doesn’t think buy-bust is
worth the effort)
Policy Implications
• Highly regulated legal market, maintain status quo
re: enforcement
• No easy target such as “iron pipeline”
• “Every household in LA has a gun and every burglar
knows that gun is kept in a night stand next to the
bed” – if the data supports, re-emphasize “safe
storage” and the reporting of “stolen guns”
• Can’t “gift” without DROS
The Illegal Gun Market in Los
Angeles: How Detainees
Understand the Law
Melissa Barragan, Kelsie Chesnut, Jason Gravel,
Nicole Sherman, Natalie Pifer, La
Keramet Reiter, & George Tita
UC Irvine: Criminology, Law and Society
Overview
• In a jurisdiction with some of the
most restrictive regulations in the
nation, are gun offenders deterred
by the law?
Overview
What Gun Offenders Know
Jail Surveys
•
•
•
87% (98/113) of respondents
discussing criminal
consequences say they will
go to jail if caught by police
with a gun.
81% (97/120) of respondents
discussing California gun
know that a criminal record
restricts possession.
Significantly less knowledge
of details: permits,
parole/probation restrictions,
ID, background check
requirements.
Our Conclusions:
• Detainees know they
cannot possess or carry
guns and think they are
likely to get caught – and
punished – if they break
this law.
• But they break the law
anyway – over concerns for
their personal safety.
What Ammo Offenders Know
Jail Surveys
•
•
•
Big Five & Walmart are
good sources for ammo
(referenced by 39% and 18%
of respondents, respectively).
“You can go buy bullets from
Wal-Mart. Or what’s it
called, Big Five, or whatever.
[You can] buy bullets
anywhere”
Among 79 respondents
discussing ammo law, only 9
regulations were even
mentioned, and those by only
a few respondents.
Our Conclusions:
• Perception that ammunition
was widely, legally
available.
• Knowledge of regulations
was inconsistent and
contradictory.
Policy Implications
• Harsher penalties for gun possession and use might
not deter, since offenders know the consequences,
think they are certain, and carry anyway.
• “Retailing the message” about ammunition laws
could be important to change behavior, since
potential offenders know less about these laws.