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spookygeek · January 7, 2011, 09:42 AM

I found this story at the Washington Post and thought it might be a good read for others on the TFL.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...112103202.html

It tracks how two guns go from dealers to being used in crimes where they were used to kill police officers. The most interesting item in the story to me is how the first two purchasers who started the chain of events, while both purchasing the weapons illegally, had no particular nefarious intent. The handguns work their way through multiple hands until they reach people that cause the fatal shootings.

It illustrates fairly well how chaotic and haphazardly guns are moved from dealer to the streets. This is not a network of clandestine russian mobsters supplying weapons to criminals but instead a loose group of friends who are either too dumb or ignorant to understand the potential outcomes from their actions.

I hope we can leave any discussion of the role of gun "tracking" or background checks, etc out of this thread, that has probably been discussed on this and other forums in enough depth and is not really pertinent to the point of the article.

This was also my favorite quote:

"'I know it's not legal to have guns in Chicago," Jeter said. "But who doesn't have a gun? That's Chicago.'"

January 7, 2011, 09:42 AM	#1
spookygeek Member Join Date: May 13, 2010 Posts: 27	The Tale of Two Guns I found this story at the Washington Post and thought it might be a good read for others on the TFL. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...112103202.html It tracks how two guns go from dealers to being used in crimes where they were used to kill police officers. The most interesting item in the story to me is how the first two purchasers who started the chain of events, while both purchasing the weapons illegally, had no particular nefarious intent. The handguns work their way through multiple hands until they reach people that cause the fatal shootings. It illustrates fairly well how chaotic and haphazardly guns are moved from dealer to the streets. This is not a network of clandestine russian mobsters supplying weapons to criminals but instead a loose group of friends who are either too dumb or ignorant to understand the potential outcomes from their actions. I hope we can leave any discussion of the role of gun "tracking" or background checks, etc out of this thread, that has probably been discussed on this and other forums in enough depth and is not really pertinent to the point of the article. This was also my favorite quote: "'I know it's not legal to have guns in Chicago," Jeter said. "But who doesn't have a gun? That's Chicago.'"