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STRATEGIC DISRUPTION OF FIREARMS MARKETS

Award Information

Award #
2001-IJ-CX-0028
Funding Category
Continuation
Location
Congressional District
Status
Closed
Funding First Awarded
2004
Total funding (to date)
$649,870

Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2004, $399,993)

PROJECT SUMMARY FOR 2001-IJ-CX-0028

This demonstration/evaluation program is a jointly-funded effort by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) to test the utility of ATF's Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII) as a source of information to examine the operation of the illegal firearms market in a city (Los Angeles) and develop interventions to strategically disrupt the supply of guns to criminals. Qualitative data will also be collected, including interviews with law enforcement personnel and arrestees. Project goals are (1) to describe Los Angeles' illegal gun markets; (2) develop and implement supply side strategies to intervene with priority targets; and (3) evaluate the impact of these strategies on illegal gun markets and on gun-related crime and violence. The project will be led by a Working Group headed by the local ATF Office and including members of the project research team (from Rand and elsewhere), the LAPD, probation and parole, and US and District Attorney Offices. Reseachers will utilize YCGII/ATF gun tracing data, police data, and California gun sales data, among other data sources, to describe Los Angeles illegal gun markets and to develop indicator measures for dealers, purchasers, and communities involved in illegal trafficking. Based on these models, the working group will develop a set of supply side intervention strategies to interrupt these illegal trafficking channels and the operating agencies will then implement the strategies. The research team will monitor the implementation process and provide feedback to the operational partners so that strategies can be refined and improved where needed. Then researchers will evaluate the impact of these interventions on the illegal gun market and on gun-related crime and violence in Los Angeles.

Date Created: September 29, 2001