N.Y. Shows Difficulty of Curbing Illegal Guns : Crime: Since Nov. 7, 37 persons have been killed by gunfire. Officials see no quick solution, even with the efforts of the federal government.

The graffiti, written with a felt-tip marker on the wall of the bodega in Brooklyn, reads: “Rest in peace B-Boy.”

But on streets where gunfire often crackles all night, the deaths of 15-year-old Carl (B-Boy) James and his companion, Mettaz (Taz) Pell, 19, are no surprise. They made the fatal mistake of trying to use an unloaded BB-gun to hold up a factory worker who carried an unregistered .44 caliber Magnum revolver. He shot them both to death.

In many New York neighborhoods, illegal guns are as common as spring dandelions in Central Park, and B-Boy’s epitaph almost surely will be eclipsed by newer ones. Some estimates put the number of illegal guns in New York City at 1.5 million--enough, if spread evenly, to arm almost one-fifth of the population.

The anti-crime bill that has just passed the Senate makes it a federal offense for virtually everyone under 18 to possess a handgun. But law enforcement officials see no quick solution in that. They say the guns are already out there, that even though police in New York last year recovered 17,635 weapons, it is a mere drop in the bucket.

The guns of November have been roaring in the city. Since Nov. 7, 37 persons have been slain by gunfire. And, since James and his companion were killed at 2:55 a.m. last Sunday outside the store in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant section, two more teen-age muggers were shot to death in separate incidents when they tried to hold up off-duty policemen.

In one of the cases, Ray Alston, a 44-year-old police sergeant was confronted by three teen-agers on a Brooklyn street. After one of the would-be robbers fired twice, Alston shot back, killing a 17-year-old. The others fled.

James and Pell were slain outside the Boyland Food Center after they attempted to rob Arthur Boone, a 41-year-old factory worker who had been robbed three times previously. Detectives said the pair pointed the BB gun at Boone, who pulled an unlicensed .44 Magnum from his belt and fired in self defense.

“He had a gun pointed at his head. He really expected he was going to die,” said a prosecutor familiar with the case.

Boone was charged with criminal possession and criminal use of a firearm. Even though two youths had been killed and his gun was unlicensed, he was released without bail pending a grand jury hearing.

Soon after the slayings, teen-age friends of the dead youths wrote their epitaphs in graffiti on a wall of the store--but among most residents of the crime-ridden neighborhood, sympathy clearly was with Boone.

“He was right, because around here you are scared a lot,” said Tanya Scaife, a meter reader for an electric utility. “It would have been him, not them. There are a lot of shootings and a lot of (robberies). Only the teen-agers are out at night. The older people stay in. They don’t want to get caught in the cross-fire of shootings and muggings.”

Nancy Lowry, a hospital worker, who also lives in the area where James and Pell were killed, agreed.

“A person has a right to protect themselves,” she said. “When I come home, I have to stay home. It’s that bad. After a certain time, you don’t go out--as soon as it gets dark.”

“I don’t think he’s wrong,” added Marie James, a nursing assistant. “ . . . It was not the first time. He was protecting himself even though he was carrying an illegal weapon that wasn’t licensed. Sometimes these kids need to be disciplined, too.”

How easy is it to buy a gun in New York?

“It’s probably easier for a poor kid in the inner city in New York to buy a gun than it is for a middle-class person,” said Gerry Migliore, director of Public Information for the Probation Department. “Aside from drug related charges, the second-largest category of people placed on probation is for weapons charges.”

“Almost half of our caseload is made up of violent felony offenses, and guns have become the weapons of choice,” said Barry Schreiber, deputy district attorney in charge of trials in Brooklyn.

The Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms traces every weapon recovered in New York City. The vast majority of the estimated 1.5 million illegal guns--up to 95%--are purchased out of state, ATF officials said.

Investigators say gun runners will often use fake identification when they buy the weapons from dealers in such states as Virginia, North and South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Alabama and West Virginia. Often, the best weapons end up in the hands of teen-age gang members who have a discriminating eye.

“We need a rational strategy to cope with the purchase of guns outside of New York state,” said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Just this week, police and federal agents raided Mama’s Fried Chicken, a fast food restaurant in the Bronx. They arrested the manager, Fareedullah Nawabi, 23, who was charged with selling guns and drugs along with wings and drumsticks. Detectives recovered more than 60 weapons--many of them large caliber guns associated with street violence.

Police and prosecutors say illegal guns are a fact of life in some neighborhoods and with ready access to all the weaponry, there is no question that respect for life has diminished.