PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Governors from both New Jersey and Pennsylvania have joined with New York and Connecticut to share tracing information about guns that were used in criminal activity.
State police in the four states will now share their data about crime guns, in hopes of identifying where they originate, who may be trafficking the firearms, and repeated straw purchases.
"Roughly 85% of the crime guns here between January and July came from out of state," said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
"Our state, and frankly our region, remains the final destination for guns flowing from the south. 25% of traced crime guns come from just three states, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina."
Murphy said guns don't have a concept of state lines.
"But those who purchase them do," Murphy explained.
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"Working together, we can as a region put in place the safeguards we need to combat the trade in illicit guns as we continue imploring Congress to enact strong national gun safety measures."
Nationally, the ATF traces guns to original owners, but Congress has not allowed the Department of Justice to set up a national registration or system for states to communicate such data.
Pennsylvania traces guns statewide through the Track and Trace program, run by the Attorney General. Officials said the program helps identify the source of illegal weapons.
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This effort would expand that, in hopes of slowing firearms from ending up in the wrong hands.
"In the first 8 months of 2020, almost as many were shot in the city of Philadelphia, as was shot in all of 2019," said Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.
"In Philadelphia, fatal and non-fatal shootings also increased by nearly 48% in 2020, compared to 2019."
The city is on pace this year to surpass 2020's fatal and non-fatal shooting totals as well.
