Aug 15, 2007 2:02 pm US/Eastern
New Jersey To Trace Guns With Federal Help
In Wake Of Execution-Style Killings, State And Federal Weapons Database Agree On Firearm Tracking
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ―
Gov. Jon S. Corzine on Wednesday announced New Jersey will begin using a federal weapons database to trace all firearms recovered in crimes in the state.
The announcement follows the execution-style slayings of three college students in Newark on Aug. 4, though officials said the plan has been in the works for six months.
"Gun violence in New Jersey and across America is stealing young lives and killing innocent people," Corzine said at New Jersey State Police headquarters. "Together, we must all do more to provide security for our communities and families."
The agreement will allow all Garden State police departments to use the eTrace database maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to track guns recovered in a New Jersey crime.
"This new first-in-the-nation partnership will allow us to pursue, arrest and prosecute the purchasers and sellers of illegal guns that have plagued our streets and communities for far too long," Corzine said.
ATF spokesman John Hagamen said 1,400 local police departments across the nation participate in the eTrace program, but New Jersey is the only state to agree to trace all guns recovered in crimes.
"There is this big missing gap," Corzine said.
Previously, local police departments could do their own gun traces through the ATF, but only that local department and the ATF could see information about the gun. So, if two police departments were trying to trace a gun at the same time, neither would know about the other department's search.
State Police Col. Rick Fuentes said only about 30 percent of guns recovered in crimes in New Jersey have been traced.
"Very, very valuable data is lost and cannot be analyzed," he said.
Under the program announced Wednesday, all guns will be entered into the ATF's eTrace database and all agencies in the state will be able to see if a trace has been placed on a particular weapon.
"This is critical," state Attorney General Anne Milgram said. "Criminals cross county lines, they cross town lines, and they cross state lines. And now, so will we."
The database lists a firearm's first purchaser, date of purchase and the retailer from which it was purchased.
Fuentes said all guns recovered in crimes will now be checked. Under the agreement, New Jersey state police personnel will be available round-the-clock daily to identify purchasers, vendors, types of weapons, dates of first purchases and individuals trafficking firearms.
New Jersey State Police Capt. Al Della Fave said the idea to traces all guns recovered in crimes stems from a brainstorming meeting between state police and ATF officials on how to better handle gun crimes in the state.
Della Fave said eTrace is the only database used by state police to trace guns. He said another ATF database can be used to test bullets and cartridge cases from crime scenes and test fire recovered firearms.
Milgram issued a directive Wednesday to all police departments in the state to require them to forward all gun tracing information to eTrace so the information can be shared by all state law enforcement.
Corzine said he also asked Fuentes, to contact law enforcement agencies throughout the Northeast to encourage them to enter into similar agreements with ATF. Corzine said he will also ask other governors to follow New Jersey's lead.
National Rifle Association spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said the gun rights group has no problem with the plan, as long as gun information isn't released publicly.
In 2006, 4,743 individuals were arrested in New Jersey for possession of illegal firearms, state officials said. According to the ATF, of the 3,100 guns submitted for trace in 2006, just 26 percent were purchased in New Jersey.
The Delaware State University students were shot execution-style in a Newark schoolyard on Aug. 4 in what authorities said was an attempted robbery. Three suspects have been arrested and charged in the case that has shone a national spotlight on Newark's high murder rate.
Milgram declined to comment on whether a gun has been recovered in the Newark shooting and, if so, whether it has traced.
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