The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) held a news conference on Tuesday morning to announce the launch of “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy,” an anti-gun trafficking campaign.
The news conference, which was held in the U.S. Attorney’s conference room at the Cay Building on 22 Barnard St., addressed the regularity of straw purchases in the Savannah area, gave warning to prospective gun buyers about the consequences of straw purchases and explained how local and federal law enforcement agencies are cracking down on straw purchasers.
A straw purchase occurs when someone purchases a gun legally on behalf of another who is prohibited from making the purchase themselves.
The news conference comes about two months after the U.S. Attorney’s Office issued a press release about the arrest of a man who is charged with conspiracy to illegally traffic firearms from Savannah to Brooklyn, New York, a route commonly referred to as the Iron Pipeline . The conference also came nearly one year after the Savannah Morning News published a series of stories about the prevalence of the Iron Pipeline and the high number of guns used in crimes in Savannah in 2022 bought legally within the state , including at a local pawn shop .
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‘There is no one solution to gun violence’
Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia; Beau Kolodka, ATF Atlanta Assistant Special Agent in Charge; and Lenny Gunther, Savannah Police Department (SPD) Chief, spoke at the news conference.
“It is our mission in ATF to prevent violent crime, but we cannot do it alone. Firearms retailers are the first line of defense,” said Kolodka, who noted that there are 850 Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) in the Savannah area.
“Those prohibited persons use those guns to commit other crimes, like assault, like homicide, like drug trafficking,” said Steinberg. “Even if this rationalizes an innocent act to help a friend, the result is a gun in the hands of someone who shouldn't have one, whether it's a felon, a person with a domestic violence protective order, or an individual with a serious mental illness. They should not have a gun. That makes our communities less safe.”
Last week, Steinberg said, two men in Atlanta were sentenced to prison for acting as straw purchasers for dozens of firearms they bought in Georgia, then transported to Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; California, and Canada.
Steinberg added that a Savannah resident was charged by the state for pointing a pistol at motorists. His and his girlfriend were charged and pleaded guilty to straw purchasing because she “bought that gun while he stood by and coached her.” He is serving a federal prison sentence. In Statesboro, a woman is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to straw purchasing, said Steinberg, who also cited the man who is charged with conspiracy to illegally traffic firearms from Savannah to Brooklyn.
Steinberg also noted the frequency of firearms stolen from locked and unlocked vehicles. In 2023, SPD reported 244 firearms stolen from cars; 203, or 83%, were stolen from unlocked vehicles. Despite the implementation of the ordinance in mid-April of this year, no one had been fined or charged under the City of Savannah's Gun Storage Ordinance as of July 11.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has indicted nearly 50 defendants for firearms crimes, particularly those involving the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, said Steinberg. The office has resolved cases against 75 defendants this year, many of them receiving substantial prison terms, added Steinberg.
“We are committed to identifying and removing from the streets those who legally possess guns along with those who procure them for other people,” said Steinberg. “We welcome the public support in this effort, particularly by sharing a hard truth that if you lie for the other guy, you might also end up in prison."
“There is no one solution to gun violence, a complex and multifaceted challenge,” said Gunther. “That said, there is one thing that will immediately yield positive results. That step is this, keep guns out of the hands of people who have no legal right to have one.”
Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@Gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Gun Violence: Multi-agency campaign seeks to stem tide of straw purchases of guns
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