Law enforcement using gun tracing to address epidemic of kids committing violent crimes
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kids committing crimes is a problem and tracing guns recovered during crimes committed by youth is being looked at as part of a solution.
Last month WCCO went inside the ATF's National Tracing Center in West Virginia. It's the only place in the world that can trace a gun back to who originally bought it. Tracing could provide police with clues on how guns are ending up in the hands of kids.
"Every department has the same frustration. We have these juveniles who are repeat offenders. What do we do with them?" ATF Special Agent in Charge in St. Paul Travis Riddle said.
Riddle says law enforcement is exploring a new way of addressing kids committing violent crimes.
"Local, state, federal criminal justice systems don't have the ability to effectively handle the emerging juvenile issue. There doesn't seem to be really effective tools to address that. And so, one thing that our agency is focused on is, how are these juveniles obtaining these guns? And typically, that's going to go through the eTrace," Riddle said.
When a gun crime happens in Minnesota and across the country, police send the firearm information to the ATF's Tracing Center.
A person must be 18 to buy a gun. The center can trace who purchased the firearm recovered from a crime scene.
"Not every trace is going to necessarily say the person who bought this gun is the person who gave this juvenile the gun. But it does give us a lead. It gives us an opportunity to have a discussion with somebody and ask them, 'Do you still have this gun?'" Riddle said.
The trace can determine if a gun has been stolen and can offer clues as to how kids are getting their hands on guns — and could help identify patterns.
"If we're talking one gun, one juvenile, that might be more of a straw purchase type case. If you're looking at a group of juveniles that are receiving guns from one person, that might be more of a trafficking-style case," Riddle said. "But that's going to be that's kind of a new area that we're looking at to try to address some of the juvenile violence."