Report Finds Chicago's 'Crime Guns' Come From Outside City
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A new report of illegal guns confiscated by the Chicago Police Department finds most are coming from outside the city.
According to this year's Gun Trace Report, 40 percent of "crime guns" are from parts of Illinois outside of Chicago -- 20 percent of which are from Indiana. The report defines a crime gun as a firearm recovered by CPD that was illegally possessed, used, or suspected to be used in furtherance of a crime.
"Using this data, law enforcement and policymakers have identified the regular sources of crime guns trafficked into Chicago with pinpoint accuracy," the report reads.
CPD releases comprehensive gun trace report along w/ enhanced strategy to interdict the flow of guns into Chicago https://t.co/pUs7kyk0BN pic.twitter.com/Por52Knjn3
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) October 29, 2017
The vast majority of crime guns were handguns possessed by adults who were not the original purchaser of the firearm, the report says.
Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson says the review of guns, recovered between 2013 and 2016, had at least one surprise it in. "We know that a lot of the illegal guns are coming from Wisconsin and Indiana, but it was surprising that Mississippi actually right now is number two," Johnson said.
Since 2013, CPD has reportedly recovered nearly 7,000 crime guns each year. "So far in 2017, CPD is already on pace to exceed last year's gun recoveries," the report says.
Delphine Cherry, president of the Chicago chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, lost two children to gun violence. She is supporting a bill in Springfield that would make it easier for local police to trace gun sales.
"The only thing I can do -- I'm at the point where I can only fight, that's all I have left in me," she said.
The report directly links the availability of illegally circulated guns in Chicago to the city's deadly street violence. Therefore, the City of Chicago and the CPD have partnered with the University of Chicago Crime Lab to examine available firearm trace data to identify the source of each crime gun recovered.
The report also finds ten license gun dealers -- seven from Illinois, three from Indiana -- account for a quarter of the guns recovered by Chicago Police.
While gun stores can now legally open in the city of Chicago, none have yet.