Special Agent Kay Morrison
Special Agent in Charge
ATF Baltimore Field
(410) 779-1700

Special Agent Mike Campbell
Public Information Officer
ATF Baltimore Field DivisionDivision
(410) 779-1700

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Acting Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Kay Morrison, in conjunction with Edward Norris, Commissioner, Baltimore City Police Department, announced that the ATF Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII) Trace Analysis Report will be released by the White House on November 30, 2000. The YCGII program is in its fifth year in Baltimore. This report compiles and summarizes ATF's crime gun trace information from all sources, including Project DISARM, in an effort to combat violent crime in our community.

" ATF, along with the Baltimore Police Department, is committed to combating firearms violence and the illegal transfer of firearms in our community," said Acting SAC Kay Morrison. "We want the residents of the city of Baltimore to know that their safety and the reduction of gun violence, is a priority with the Federal, local and State law enforcement in this area."

Both Mayor O'Malley and Commissioner Norris have made the reduction of homicides and violent crime in Baltimore a priority. This report can help the city in identifying sources of crime guns, locations where these crime guns are recovered, and patterns of illegal firearms trafficking.

This study reveals important trends and patterns regarding crime guns in Baltimore and the other 35 cities that participated in the program and contributed valuable data as a result of tracing. The report reveals a wealth of information concerning the illegal sources of guns to juveniles and youths. YCGII is aimed at identifying and stopping the illegal supply of firearms to children and other prohibited persons.

¨The YCGII program expanded from its original 17 cities in 1996 to 38 cities in 1999, and is expected to increase to 50 in coming years, pending the future passage of federal appropriations by Congress.

• The YCGII report analyzed source states for crime guns.
  
  
• 70% of all traced crime guns are handguns.
  
  
• Juveniles and youths account proportionally for more crime gun traces than adults do: about one in ten crime guns were recovered from a child age 17 or under.
  
  
• Semi-automatic pistols account for half of all traced crime guns. Long guns account for one in five traced crime guns.
  
  
• A gun's "time-to-crime" varied substantially by firearm type, age of purchaser, and specific model.

The Highlights of the Baltimore City YCGII report show the following:

• Juveniles (ages 17 and under) were associated with 12 percent of the recovered crime guns in 1999, which is a higher percentage than the average of 9 percent for comparable YCGII cities.
  
  
• Youth (ages 18-24) were associated with 33 percent of recovered crime guns.

Crime Guns and Illegal Diversion

• Few crime gun possessors bought their guns directly from Federally Licensed Gun Dealers. Over 89 percent of Baltimore crime guns changed hands at least once before reaching the crime gun possessor and could have been legally transferred, straw purchased, otherwise trafficked, stolen, or a combination of these.
  
  
• Many of the crime guns had a short "time-to-crime." 28 percent of the crime guns (570) had a time-to-crime of less than three years, and 14 percent (280) had a time-to-crime of a year or less.
  
  
• Overall, 5 percent of handguns recovered in Baltimore had obliterated serial numbers.
  
  
• Youth in Baltimore were associated with the highest percent of handguns with obliterated serial numbers (7 percent), as compared to juveniles (5 percent) and adults (5 percent). The obliteration of serial numbers is a key trafficking indicator.

Types of Crime Guns

• Handguns accounted for more than 74 percent of Baltimore's traced crime guns.
  
  
• Semiautomatic pistols comprised nearly 43 percent of crime guns in Baltimore, and dominated among crime guns recovered from youth (55 percent) and juveniles (48 percent), as well as from adults (40 percent).
  
  
• Revolvers made up 30 percent of crime guns, with juveniles being associated with the most (36 percent), followed by youth (29 percent) and adults (26 percent).
  
  
• Long guns accounted for 26 percent of the crime guns recovered in Baltimore.

Geographic Sources

• Maryland Federal firearms licensees (FFLs) were the source of 61 percent of all traceable crime guns recovered in Baltimore.
  
  
• FFLs located in Baltimore City were the source of 48 percent of crime guns recovered in Baltimore and purchased in Maryland.

The complete report for Baltimore and other cities will be listed on ATF's Web site, www.atf.treas.gov.