‘Last straw’ for gun trafficking

Straw purchasing of guns is a major concern for United States (US) authorities and at least one state attorney general is calling for urgent attention to effectively have the upper hand in combating firearms trafficking locally and internationally.

Jamaica continues to see large to medium size caches of firearms and ammunition seized at its ports, especially within the last year, as the authorities make arrests and continue to investigate each incident in attempts to identify and nab the sources.

The 45th Attorney General of Kansas, Kris Koback, told a contingency of international journalists that straw purchasing is something that needs to be addressed.

Straw purchases

“We in the United States recognise that, in order to address a whole host of issues, we have to have strong laws against straw purchases,” Koback said.

Koback, the chief legal officer and top law enforcement official for the state of Kansas, was speaking during an official briefing for the US State Department Foreign Press Center Reporting Tour on ‘Countering Transnational Criminal Organizations’, in the state capital, Topeka.

“It’s a federal crime to be a straw purchaser or to ask someone else to be a straw purchaser. That’s our term for the person who makes the purchase of the firearm or gives the firearm to someone else and that person pays them the cost of the firearm plus some fees… . It’s a problem not just in the context of international movement of firearms but with criminals in the United States who may be aware that if you commit just about any significant felony in the United States, you will lose your right to possess a firearm,” Kobach said.

The attorney general said the US is a country with the second amendment and there are laws and rights of the law abiding public to have firearms. However, if you commit a felony, you lose that right.

“In most cases you lose it forever, so straw purchases are a problem or an issue that needs to be addressed. People who have a criminal background or have been convicted, they may attempt to get a firearm using straw purchasing. So the federal authorities take this very seriously. Federal prosecutors… the federal government, the US Department of Justice prosecutes it very vigorously. Whenever they have a case of a straw purchase they usually go after it extremely vigorously and quickly and seek significant penalties,” Kobach said, of the role the US government plays.

The attorney general said that, as a firearm owner himself, he has to fill out a long form and swear that he is purchasing for himself and no one else.

“So, in addition to the straw purchasing crime, they are also committing a crime of false swearing. Falsely signing a document and that too carries a penalty,” Kobach said.

Firearms Act

Under Jamaican law, the Firearms Act on the Jamaica trade information portal states that a person shall not import into, export from or transship in Jamaica any firearm or ammunition except in accordance with the terms of a firearm import permit, firearm export or firearm transshipment permit, as the case may be.

Reports suggest that the majority of the illegal guns shipped to Jamaica are sent from the US where arms are manufactured.

For years, Jamaica has struggled with the inflow of arms and a relatively low rate of arrest.

The US government has stated that it is stepping up efforts to help, with new laws and increased support from agencies such as The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which is responsible for enforcing Federal criminal laws and regulating the firearms and explosives industry.

The Jamaican authorities have seized shipments of firearms in barrels among food and clothing on a consistent basis since November of last year.

This year there have been reports of the nation’s largest ever seizure of 233 guns and more than 50,000 rounds of ammunition concealed in industrial water heaters.

The Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) and Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division (FNID) also reportedly intercepted other shipments including more than 50 handguns, 16 rifles and thousands of rounds in February.

There was another large seizure in March.

The weapons were reportedly seized at a warehouse in Kingston in the mentioned incidents.

Intelligence-driven strategies

The Jamaican Government said the busts highlighted the use of advanced scanning technologies and intelligence-driven strategies by the JCA and the leveraging of partnerships with international bodies to dismantle criminal syndicates and disrupt weapons trafficking.

While addressing the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in New York, recently, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness said gangs are now global syndicates with resources that rival nation states.

Holness, who is the current chairman of the 15-member regional integration movement, CARICOM, said the Caribbean has created regional security mechanisms, but these efforts alone cannot match the scale of the threat.

“What is needed is a united front, with the same urgency, resources, and coordination the world has applied to terrorism. Only then can we turn the Caribbean – and indeed the wider region – into a true zone of peace,” Holness said.

Holness also said this requires deeper engagement from all member states, urging full implementation of the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons and the International Tracing Instrument.

International campaign

“But we know that unless these networks are totally dismantled, our gains remain fragile. This is why we call for nothing less than a global war on gangs, a coordinated international campaign to cut off the flow of weapons, money, and influence that sustain them.”

Holness stated that major arms-exporting countries must tighten export controls, strengthen end-use monitoring, and ensure rigorous post-delivery verification.

“Equally, member states in our region and beyond must commit to intelligence sharing, joint operations, and technical assistance for law enforcement, border security, and port control,” he added.

Meanwhile, Major James Buck of the Kansas City Police Department in the state of Missouri, said law enforcement there sees straw purchases taking place in several cases locally.

Some of these firearms make their way to small island states like Jamaica.

A firearm that was reported stolen from the Atlanta Police Department was found in Jamaica in a vehicle during a spot check.

A well known music producer and another man were arrested during that incident.

“[We’ve seen] Where a legitimate individual purchases a gun through legal means and takes that and gives [or sells] to people who are prohibited from having a firearm,” Buck said while addressing journalists on the reporting tour.

He referred to the case of a deadly shooting at a Kansas City Chiefs football parade on February 14, 2024.

During that mass shooting, one person was killed and 23 others shot at the west side of Union Station in Kansas City.

“One of the things we were successful to do in relation to that parade was to trace three of those guns back to the original general purchaser because those who were involved in the shooting were prohibited and should not have guns and we were actually able to partner with the ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) to get charges related to the people who had legitimately bought the guns and gave them to those involved in the parade shooting… . We got several cases that we are working now with the same thing, it is very much an issue,” Buck said.

“We do what we do, we go through a lot of databases and come across things that [are flagged to] the police department and the ATF for intervention.”

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com