Federal Gun Prosecutions Have More Than Doubled In Saint Louis

ST. LOUIS, MO — Federal gun prosecutions have more than doubled this year over last in St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch reports, part of the city's effort to reduce an epidemic of gun violence. U.S. Attorney Jeff Jenson told the paper that 357 gun cases have been charged since January. During the same period in 2017, that number was 156.

Last year St. Louis cracked its 25-year murder record. Per capita, the city ranks third for homicides in the United States and first for non-fatal shootings, according to data from the FBI and Major Cities Chiefs Association.

Federal prosecutors said they are targeting cases that could lead to murders, such as when guns are linked to drug trafficking and violent crimes. The efforts have also been geographically targeted to areas of the city that disproportionately see high rates of murder and other violent crimes.

Jensen said crime rates have decreased by more than a quarter in those specific areas and by about 6 percent in the city overall since the crackdown on illegal guns.

More than 30,000 Americans are killed by guns every year and twice that number are injured, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 13,000 are murdered. The rest take their own lives or are victims of shooting accidents. Almost half are children or young adults.

Missouri lawmakers repealed a law in 2007 that allowed for longer, more comprehensive background checks. Cassandra Kercher Crifasi, a researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said the repeal led to a spike in murders and 70 percent more guns making their way to criminals across the state.

Missouri Republicans passed another law in 2016 — overriding the veto of then-Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon — further loosening the state's gun laws and making it easier for domestic abusers to obtain guns.

According to the CDC, Missouri ranks 19th highest in the country for its gun death rate, with more than 18 per 100,000 residents. That's lower than the leading states — Alaska, Alabama and Louisiana — but, it's still almost double the national average.

Of more than 500 murders in Missouri last year, about half were in St. Louis. The vast majority were committed with handguns.

While their effort seems to be working, prosecutors say they are overworked and jails are filling up fast. They don't know if the crackdown is sustainable over the long term.

“Everybody’s working weekends and nights,” chief U.S. probation officer Scott Anders said. “I don’t really know how we could do more than we are doing now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.

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