Gangs and the uses of illegal firearms has been an ongoing debated among lawmakers and government officials for years. In a recent case, a Modesto Police Sergeant, Howard Stevenson was gun down by Andres Raya, a former marine and also a member of the Norteno (Mexican Blood) gang in Modesto California. This is a prime example of how gangs are misusing illegal firearms and affecting the lives of people today. Raya, a Norteno gang member purchased an illegal semiautomatic assault rifle and used it to killed Sergeant Stevenson as part of his gang (DaFao, 2005). This incident is one of many cases in the United States where gang members are using illegal firearms to shoot law enforcement officers and at other rival gang members. However, the problems that we are encountering today are the fears of gang members having easy access to illegal firearms and the danger that they possess onto our society.
The using of guns to settle disputes between rival gang members has increase dramatically over the past few years. In the past, most disputed between gang members are solved with fist fight; now they are often being solved with handguns and semiautomatic weapons. (National Center for Victim of Crime, 1993). Gang members are no longer using fist fighting as a mean for revenge and respect. They turn to using guns and other illegal weapons to eliminate their rival gang members. The days of street fighting are over, and it is being replaced with illegal firearm.
Majority of the time, the firearms used to commit violent activities are guns that was stolen from the legal owners and sold to gang members at a cheaper price. Gabe Morales, a gang expert states that gang members can easily get stolen guns for about fifty to a hundred dollars. Most of the time, it is easier to get a stolen gun than to get a car (Mcnerthey, 2008). This is true, because often times gang members are poor and they can’t afford to buy a legal gun for five hundred to a thousand dollars. They rather buy illegal firearms from the black market where they can get it for a much cheaper price. Also, most gang members are on probation or parole, therefore, they are restricted from owning a legal gun. However, gang members would rather buy an illegal gun instead, because if they ever used that gun to commits crimes, it is harder to trace the weapon back to them. Also, the majority of gang members denies purchasing legal weapons because the purpose of guns is for protection and settle dispute between them and their rivalry. They don’t care about gun regulations as long as gang members have guns to protect themselves or having one to help them commits crimes.
Nevertheless, gang members who have access to illegal firearms are more likely to commits crimes, than those who do not own a firearm. According to a study, two third of gang members who owned an illegal gun had used it at least once. About one-third of them said it was okay to shoot someone who disrespected them (Decker & Howell, 1999). In addition, the availabilities of illegal firearms has made it is easier for gang members to eliminate their opponents by killing them with a gun than fighting them on the street. Also, gang members with a firearm are more likely to get into drive by then those who do not; because when they have a gun, they feel that they are in more controlling on the other gangs.
Bibliography
Decker, S, Scott & Howell, C, James. (January, 1999). The Youth Gangs, Drugs, and violence connection. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. January 1999. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/93920.pdf
DeFao, Janine. (January, 2005). CERES, STANISLAUS COUNTRY/ Marine who killed cop linked to gang activity/ Family members dispute account by investigation. SFGate.com. January 2005. http://articles.sfgate.com/2005-01-16/bay-area/17354990_1_andres-raya-gang- member-liquor-store
Mcnerthney, Casey. (September, 2008). For Teens, Illegal guns easy to get on streets.Settlepi.com. September, 2008. http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/For-teens-illegal-guns-easy-to-get-on-streets-1283875.php
National Center for Victims of Crime (1993). Gangs in America. The National Center for victims of Crime. 1993. http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=32352
Good blog. Gangs and firearms do not go hand and hand. The mixture of these two can cause lot of issue including death to many people. In the black market, these weapons are easy to get and very cheap. I feel that law enforcement agencies should push harder to detain these weapons before getting into the wrong hands.
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