Squeezing Out The Bad Guys

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Last year ATF expanded the Yogi tracing studies to 27 cities. In February ATF added 10 more. Each Yogi city found unique patterns, but nearly all discovered the single biggest source of crime guns was the network of licensed dealers operating within their home states. The most important effect was to replace the hopelessness of the late '80s and early '90s with a confidence that the right measures aimed at the right targets could interrupt the flow of guns to the bad guys.

Suddenly the seemingly intractable debate over gun control became a debate over "crime-gun interdiction." The tracing studies had produced a new middle ground--the crime gun--a rhetorical species no one could love. "It really is a sea change," says Kennedy. "People are now asking the right questions. So when Ben Smith went crazy outside Chicago, they wanted to know where his guns came from. Guess what--they came from an illegal trafficker."