County Targeted in U.S. Probe of Gun Trade : Violence: Federal agents told to study weapons trafficking in 10 high-crime areas. Local officials welcome effort but doubt it will help.

Naming Orange County as one of 10 areas nationally with the biggest crime problem, Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen on Tuesday said he has directed federal agents to try to determine the source of guns.

In remarks at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Bentsen said he has asked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to study gun trafficking patterns in the 10 localities, which also include Los Angeles and San Diego counties.

Bentsen cited a Justice Department study that found that those 10 areas account for 23% of the nation’s felonies. Senior Treasury Department officials said the study would seek to determine whether guns are being brought into the areas by individuals or organizations and where they originate.

Orange County law enforcement officials said they welcome the effort but believe it’s a nearly impossible job.

For example, Lt. Bob Helton, spokesman for the Santa Ana Police Department, said: “If you’re trying to develop some kind of a trail, that’s going to be a very difficult task. In my experience, many criminals aren’t willing to give up the source of their guns, because they may want to go back to the same source in the future, or they’re afraid of being labeled a snitch.”

Although Bentsen named Orange County as one of the top crime areas of the country, U.S. Department of Justice studies show that the county has fared much better than other suburban counties with populations of 100,000 or more.

In Orange County, the total number of crimes per 100,000 population actually fell from 1982 to 1992. But violent crimes--murders, rapes, serious assaults and armed robberies--shot up 61%.

Last year, overall, the county’s crime rate matched the nation’s norm, while Los Angeles had a crime rate much higher than the national average.

Besides the three California counties selected for study, the other areas named by Bentsen on Tuesday are Cook County, Ill.; Harris and Dallas counties in Texas; Maricopa County, Ariz.; Wayne County, Mich.; Dade County, Fla., and New York City.

Bentsen’s announcement came as he called for a nearly tenfold increase in gun dealer license fees as a step toward tightening federal controls over gun purchases. But he conceded that the proposal deals with at most a third of the nation’s weapons sales.

Bentsen, a self-described lifetime gun owner and hunter, said hiking license fees would weed out as many as 80% of license holders, who Clinton Administration officials say acquire the permits solely to take advantage of tax breaks and manufacturers discounts or to ship weapons across state lines.

The proliferation of such licensees has caused serious problems for the 240 federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms inspectors responsible for policing the industry, said Bentsen, whose department includes the bureau.

Bentsen acknowledged that the higher fees would have limited effect because only one-third of the nation’s guns are purchased through the 284,000 licensed dealers. He estimated that the other two-thirds come from off-the-street sales, from criminals who trade drugs for guns or steal them during burglaries, from black markets and flea markets and children who get them from their parents.

“No law enforcers--not 400, not 4,000, not 400,000--can stop that,” Bentsen said.