Death at the Hands of a Community Gun

With law enforcement’s crackdown on weapons, the use of community guns by gangs and criminals is on the rise.

By Megan Greene, NCPC Intern

Tragedy struck on May 29, 2008 when a young girl was shot and killed in Albany, NY. The 10-year-old, Kathina Thomas, was playing outside her home when a stray bullet that had been meant for someone else travelled a block and hit her in the back. Two weeks of investigating finally led police to the arrest of a suspect. According to the statement he gave police, he fired the gun at a group of teenagers after seeing one of them pull out what he believed to be a gun.

The tragic death of Kathina Thomas has left her entire community in mourning. But surprisingly, the most shocking circumstance in this case was the weapon used in her murder. In his statement, the suspect explained that the gun he used was a “community gun” that had been hidden in a garbage can. As he told police, everyone in the neighborhood knew about the gun and it was available for anyone to use. When he was done, the young assailant replaced the gun in the garbage can because, he told police, "everyone in the neighborhood uses that gun and that's where we keep it."

This case has turned major attention on the existence of community guns. And while this may seem like a new trend to the average citizen, police say that community guns have been around since the 1970s. However, with law enforcement making guns harder to obtain and transport, gangs are looking for new ways to make a smaller amount of weapons available to a large group of people. In addition, community guns help criminals not get caught with a weapon. As Detective Bruce Ferrell of the Omaha, NE, Police Gang Intelligence Unit told ABC News, “Before we tended to believe that a lot of guns were being stolen. In our area, we have found that not to be the truth. A lot of times they pass it around to other gang members or may trade it for drugs. They don't discard them as often as they used to."

And these guns aren’t just staying in one community. Police in Suffolk County, NY, recently recovered a gun they believe was used on three students in a Newark, NJ, school yard and possibly in another two out-of-state murders. Officials believe that this one gun traveled across New York through a gang network known to recycle guns used in violent crimes. And New York isn’t alone. Within the last year, police in major cities such as Cleveland, OH; Trenton, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; and Boston, MA, have all discovered bundles of weapons hidden in abandoned buildings which they believe are shared by gangs and criminals.

Because most firearms that are used as community guns are older than new weapons, they are both cheaper and much more difficult for police to trace. For example, of the 755 guns recovered by Boston police in 2004, 64 percent of them were at least seven years old. ''They can certainly still function properly despite the age," said Jim McNally, spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in Boston. ''The bad guys read the papers, watch the news. They get to know what law enforcement is doing to fight [crime], and they know tracing firearms is a big part of what we do. The odds of tracing [older guns] are not as good."

Community guns bring together some of our society’s biggest crime issues. Gun control, gang violence, neighborhood safety; these are all issues that plague our society and foster a fear in citizens for their protection. And if you think it isn’t touching you personally, think again. Gun violence results in more than $2.3 billion in medical bills each year, nearly half of which is paid by taxpayers. In 2007, the total cost of state corrections across the country, paid for by taxpayers, topped $44 billion. Worse, according to the latest figures, in 2005 federal, state, and local governments spent about $204 billion in all for police protection, corrections, and judicial and legal activities associated with crime. And the cost in human suffering to victims and their families is incalculable.

However, while this problem can seem like one that can only be fixed by law enforcement, people in every community can play a role. Crime prevention experts say to stay connected with leaders in your neighborhood, whether law enforcement personnel, a minister, or an educator. Let them know if you have suspicions of illegal activity, even if you are not totally sure. Get involved with the youth in your community. Kids fall into lives of crime and violence when they have nowhere else to go, so give them new options. Volunteer at a local afterschool club such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, or start one of your own.

The death of Kathina Thomas is tragic, but her memory can be used as a catalyst for change in neighborhoods across the country that face these problems of violence. Said the Rev. Edward Smart, pastor of the AME Zion Church in Albany, "Everyone in the community, it seems, has come together to say that enough is enough."