Guns: The Texas Pipeline

A .25-cal. semiautomatic hand-gun purchased for $40 in Dallas commands $150 on the street in New York City. With such profits at stake, it is no wonder that Texas, already a major corridor for narcotics from Central America, is turning into a principal source of guns for drug gangs around the U.S. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms figures that Texas trails only Florida as a black-market weapons supplier. Lax firearms laws require no waiting period or investigation of a buyer; gun smugglers send ordinary-looking shoppers, often women, from gun shop to gun shop, acquiring a weapon at each stop. Within a day, ATF has found, the firearms can turn up in such cities as New York and Washington. Texas retailers have nothing to hide. Says Richard L. Garner of the Dallas ATF office: "In most cases, we find the dealers are operating legally."