The Math Is Haywire : Almost 194,000 federally licensed dealers, only 200 compliance agents

The arrest of a Temecula truck driver last week on charges of being involved in an illegal gun-dealing operation that supplied hundreds of cheap firearms to gang members and others in Orange County is an example of effective police work. This kind of work deserves a lot of praise. It also deserves greater support by those who write federal laws.

Here’s what we mean. According to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, there are about 969 federally licensed gun dealers for every federal agent assigned to ensure compliance with the law. With only about 200 inspectors for 193,924 licensed dealers, violations tend to slip through the cracks. And when they do, the burden of cleaning up the mess usually falls on law enforcement in the field. In this case, authorities say, the mess was created by James Larry Simmons and two accomplices, who allegedly were able to acquire quantities of weapons on the cheap and then sell them to all comers.

About 1,700 firearms reportedly were traced to Simmons. Guns were said to have been sold without proper federal paperwork, the requisite criminal background checks and the 15-day waiting period required under California law. Authorities say the flow of weapons was broken only when a firearm used in a shootout between a gang member and a Santa Ana police officer was traced.

According to federal authorities, the full effects of Simmons’ gun selling are still unknown. As it now stands, guns sold by Simmons’ merry band have been found in six states, authorities say. Simmons’ lawyer says it’s all a tempest created by the suspect’s sloppy paperwork.

Congress last year increased licensing fees and required gun-dealer applicants to comply with state and local laws before they could receive a license. That’s fine, as far as it goes. But 194,000 gun dealers are still more than the government can possibly keep track of. And if Congress fails to further tighten the licensing requirements, thereby making it tougher to qualify as a gun dealer, no one should wonder why the slaughter goes on and on.