NCJ Number
167926
Date Published
1997
Length
33 pages
Annotation
Based on crime guns for which trace requests were submitted to the National Tracing Center (NTC) during the period of July 1, 1996, through April 30, 1997, this report provides statistics on firearms in Jersey City, N.J., associated with illegal possession or activity.
Abstract
This report is part of the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative, a 17-city demonstration project aimed at reducing youth firearms violence. For the purpose of this project, a "crime gun" is defined as "any firearm that is illegally possessed, used in a crime, or suspected by enforcement officials of being used in a crime." As part of providing crime gun trace information for a 10-month period, this report contains analyses of requests for crime gun traces; analyses of successful NTC traces; analysis of incomplete traces; and analyses by adult, youth, and juvenile age categories. For the study period, Jersey City had 343 crime gun trace requests to the NTC; of these, 319 (93.00 percent) possessors were identified. A total of 244 requests involved the determination of the possessor's age; there were 35 adult (25 years of age and over) trace requests, 53 youth (18-24 years old) trace requests, and 156 juvenile (17 years old and under) trace requests. An analysis of trace requests by type of firearm shows that the semiautomatic pistol was the most frequently traced firearm for adults and juveniles: 15 for adults and 79 for juveniles. The revolver was the firearm most often traced for youth (26 for revolver and 24 for semiautomatic pistol). Another table shows the top 10 crime guns requested for tracing by type, manufacturer, and caliber. Firearms offenses was the crime type most often associated with trace requests: 6 for adults, 6 for youth, and 79 for juveniles. The number of successful traces was 7 for adults, 9 for youth, 80 for juveniles, and 150 for all ages. Other data reported show time- to-crime rates for the top 10 crime guns requested for tracing by type, manufacturer, and caliber, as well as the most frequent source-State for successfully traced crime guns; the top State was New Jersey for adults (n=2), South Carolina for youth (n=2), and Virginia for juveniles (n=7). General findings are discussed for all the participating communities and for local illegal firearms markets.