Feds Willing to Bring Parallel Charges in Push to Target Illegal Guns

Federal authorities in Chicago are targeting gun traffickers with a “strike force” unveiled earlier this year – and they say they’re willing to supersede local decisions with additional federal charges if they believe it’s warranted.

“If you look at the violent crime going on in Chicago, we have a shooting cycle to disrupt,” said Kristen de Tineo, the special agent in charge of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Chicago.

In July, the Department of Justice and ATF announced strike forces in Chicago and four other major metropolitan areas across the U.S., promising enhanced, sustained coordination with each city’s police department to target gun trafficking in areas both where guns are illegally purchased and where they are ultimately used to commit crimes.

De Tineo noted that most illegal guns in Chicago come from dealers within Illinois, and that most trafficking cases are built against single individuals.