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AUGUST 18, 14:34 EDT
Feds Indict Suburban Gun Dealers
By MIKE ROBINSON
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) — Opening a new front in the war on gun violence, federal prosecutors announced indictments today against suburban gun sellers accused of helping put firearms in the hands of drug-selling street gangs.
Federal officials said ``Operation Surefire,'' in which federal
agents cooperated with Chicago police, represented the first concerted attack on suburban gun shops that furnish arms to city-based gangs responsible for hundreds of homicides.
``The message is simple — if you violate the gun laws, you're going to prison,'' U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar said in announcing the charges.
In all, 13 people were charged.
Owners and employees of five suburban gun shops were charged with avoiding state laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals by selling guns to ``straw purchasers'' — people with clean records who then turn the weapons over to gang members convicted of past crimes.
Individuals accused of buying guns illegally were also charged.
The indictments follow a $433 million lawsuit filed by the city of Chicago against suburban gun dealers and the firearms industry.
Mayor Richard M. Daley ordered the lawsuit filed after a 1998 undercover investigation by Chicago police found that some suburban gun dealers had sidestepped laws designed to keep guns away from criminals.
Handgun sales to civilians are banned in Chicago, but the city has been racked by gun violence, especially on the part of drug-selling gangs who have thousands of members and are responsible for hundreds of homicides.
Lassar said that one of the defendants was found to have purchased 186 guns in one year.
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========================
AUGUST 18, 14:34 EDT
Feds Indict Suburban Gun Dealers
By MIKE ROBINSON
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) — Opening a new front in the war on gun violence, federal prosecutors announced indictments today against suburban gun sellers accused of helping put firearms in the hands of drug-selling street gangs.
Federal officials said ``Operation Surefire,'' in which federal
agents cooperated with Chicago police, represented the first concerted attack on suburban gun shops that furnish arms to city-based gangs responsible for hundreds of homicides.
``The message is simple — if you violate the gun laws, you're going to prison,'' U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar said in announcing the charges.
In all, 13 people were charged.
Owners and employees of five suburban gun shops were charged with avoiding state laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals by selling guns to ``straw purchasers'' — people with clean records who then turn the weapons over to gang members convicted of past crimes.
Individuals accused of buying guns illegally were also charged.
The indictments follow a $433 million lawsuit filed by the city of Chicago against suburban gun dealers and the firearms industry.
Mayor Richard M. Daley ordered the lawsuit filed after a 1998 undercover investigation by Chicago police found that some suburban gun dealers had sidestepped laws designed to keep guns away from criminals.
Handgun sales to civilians are banned in Chicago, but the city has been racked by gun violence, especially on the part of drug-selling gangs who have thousands of members and are responsible for hundreds of homicides.
Lassar said that one of the defendants was found to have purchased 186 guns in one year.
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