New law enforcement effort to stop straw purchases
By: Tom MacDonald
Philadelphia Family Court is teaming up with the District Attorney and State Attorney General in a new effort to stop straw purchases of guns for criminals.
By: Tom MacDonald
tmacdonald@whyy.org
Philadelphia Family Court is teaming up with the District Attorney and State Attorney General in a new effort to stop straw purchases of guns for criminals.
Transcript:
Philadelphia Family Court President Judge Kevin Dougherty says he will hold juveniles accused of gun crimes until they say where they got their weapon.
Dougherty: “Let it be known that any juvenile arrested with a gun will not leave the youth study center.”
Attorney General Tom Corbett says the goal of the new initiative is to arrest adults who provide guns to juveniles. 10 to 20 kids are arrested each month on gun charges.
Corbett: Many of these adults know the juveniles will be treated differently than they are, that’s one of the reasons they encourage the juveniles to use their weapons as part of gangs. This will take that away from them when there is one consistent way to deal with juveniles.”
The plan is to trace the guns back to the people who buy them from dealers, and prosecute the so called straw purchasers to keep the firearms out of the hands of criminals.
Listen:
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[audio: reports20090330guns.mp3]
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