'Every Gun Starts Out Legal,' Says Fed Who Helps Seize Illegal Weapons In Chicago
(CBS) -- They are guns used for murders, robberies, and other crimes – oftentimes, sold and used again.
CBS 2's Brad Edwards looks at efforts to trace and track them down.
"The gangs, the guns and the drugs all go hand in hand," says Thomas Ahern, special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.
"Crime guns are the mission of the Chicago ATF," he says.
His agency is the clearing house of seized guns, which are ballistics-tested and cross compared. Like the .45-caliber Ruger with an extended magazine that was recovered this week by the Cook County Sheriff's Department during a Chicago traffic stop.
What's its back story?
"Every gun has a story, and every gun starts out legal," Ahern says.
The guns that aren't are the city's scourge. Fueling the street demand for guns was David "Big Dave" Lewisbey. He took advantage of lax Indiana gun laws and bought hundreds of firearms. He's in the federal pen for 17 years for illegally re-selling them in Chicago's most dangerous neighborhoods.
Ahern says guns are more of a problem here than anywhere else in the U.S.
"We have more documented gang members in the city of Chicago than anywhere else in the country," he says.
The problem: when guns make it into hands that shouldn't have them.
Michael Ward was only given probation after pleading guilty to illegal possession of a loaded firearm. Two months later, he allegedly murdered Hadiya Pendleton, a high school student.
She was remembered Thursday -- her birthday.
The last Chicago murder victim of May was 15 years old, Fabian Lavinder.
