Corrupt Licensed Dealers Called Key Source of Handguns Used in Southland Crimes

Corrupt “kitchen-table” gun dealers licensed by the federal government are a key source of handguns used in crimes in Southern California, according to a report released Tuesday.

The study, prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, also cited gun-store burglaries by gang members--and unlicensed street dealers who use others to acquire guns from retail stores.

ATF agents in Los Angeles compiled the report by tracing 1,764 guns recovered last year by law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. Nearly two-thirds of the weapons were seized by officers in the Los Angeles Police Department’s South Bureau, which patrols the city’s highest-crime area, from Baldwin Hills to San Pedro.

The study detailed a number of recent ATF investigations of Southern Californians who hold federal firearms licenses, or FFLs. Such licenses entitle individuals, for a small fee, to buy guns at wholesale prices and sell them out of their homes, offices and even car trunks.

Some federal licensees, also known as kitchen-table dealers, have been arrested after selling hundreds of handguns without completing the proper paperwork, the report said.

In one case, two “gang associates” who hold an FFL sold hundreds of firearms, including assault weapons, illicitly to gang members in South-Central Los Angeles, according to the ATF.

In another case, a husband and wife in Inglewood used their FFL to illegally sell more than 1,200 guns in one year. More than 110 of their weapons have been recovered by police, mostly in South-Central.

The report said a gang member used a Davis P-380 pistol sold illegally by a 19-year-old federal licensee to kill Los Angeles Police Officer Charles Heim and wound his partner in October.

Another common source of illegal guns, the report said, consists of thefts and gun-store break-ins organized by gang members. Police have continued to recover some of the 3,000 guns looted from local retailers by gangs during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, said the report, which also cited “numerous” gun-store burglaries.

The ATF also said convicted criminals or people too young to legally buy guns often acquire them through spouses or friends. Such “straw” purchases often are obvious, with one person selecting a gun in a retail outlet and a companion later purchasing it.

“It is feared that salespersons will often go along with these stratagems just for the sake of making a sale,” the report said.

Gang members from Inglewood used straw purchasers to buy nearly 1,000 guns at retail stores in Phoenix, the ATF study said. Many of those weapons were used in violent crimes in Los Angeles, including a .22-caliber pistol that was used in the attempted murder of a South Bureau detective.

Under pressure from gun-control advocates and other critics, the federal government recently tightened the requirements for kitchen-table licensees. License fees were raised from $30 for a three-year license to $200, plus a $90 renewal charge. In addition, licensees now are required to submit fingerprints and photographs and comply with state and local gun laws.

John D’Angelo, an ATF spokesman, said the new requirements are responsible for a dramatic drop in the number of FFLs in Los Angeles, from 3,105 in 1992 to 2,224 at present.

“People are saying it’s just not worth it,” he said.

But a spokesman for Handgun Control Inc. said more regulation is needed to stop illicit gun sales that underlie what he described as an epidemic of gun-related crime in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Sandy Cooney, the gun-control group’s western regional director, said legitimate gun dealers should be required to operate from traditional retail stores in commercially zoned neighborhoods, like other businesses.

Although the ATF’s Los Angeles regional office in the past focused on gang members acquiring guns illegally, D’Angelo said, it now pays more attention to illicit sales by gun dealers.

ATF agents are investigating at least two commercial gun stores suspected of selling large numbers of guns without proper paperwork, said the agency’s report, which did not identify the outlets.