- 11 months ago
Frontline and the Center for Investigative Reporting look into the market of illegal, unregistered, and stolen firearms.
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00:00I see the house every day when I go to work so it's always there every day I always think about
00:15her I mean it's not one day that I don't think about her when convicted felon Peter Garcia was
00:22released from prison his wife Evelyn reluctantly agreed to let him come back home so she took him
00:29back and and he started the same thing all over again and it escalated and I begged her I said
00:36Evelyn please don't take him back he's going to kill you he's going to kill you Evelyn don't take
00:41him back early on this winter morning police entered the Garcia home in far Rockaway New York
00:47to find a grim scene Evelyn's son and nephew had been shot but were alive Evelyn was dead
00:55this defendant Peter Garcia is responsible under our law for taking a 380 Lawson and shooting his wife
01:12Evelyn Garcia the gun that killed Evelyn Garcia was a Morrison 380 the gun most frequently traced by
01:20the ATF the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms police had hoped that crime scene evidence would
01:27prove that Peter Garcia pulled the trigger but some Lawson's are manufactured with a special coating
01:33that rarely leaves fingerprints without Prince the best police could hope for was to uncover half an answer
01:41after the gun was test fired I conducted a microscopic examination on the recovered bullets and the recovered
01:55casings cartridge casings to determine if they were fired from that gun or not fired from that gun
02:01ballistics tests conclusively showed that the gun found at the scene was indeed the murder weapon but tracing the
02:09pistol serial number was essential to prove that Peter Garcia owned the gun for that local police
02:16would turn to the ATF but when ATF tried to trace the Garcia gun Lawson said there was no record of the gun
02:26serial number but the gun had never been made when you run a trace on a firearm it's gonna tell a story
02:34that the story is going to be that this gun originated or was born in this location in this particular case what was
02:41different is that that did not occur how does a gun that was never made kill an innocent woman the answer leads to a
02:52world of corporate neglect and criminal greed to a black market in guns and those who are trained to stop it and ultimately to one of the
03:01one of the largest gun thefts in United States history
03:04the United States history
03:08funding for frontline is provided by the corporation for public broadcasting
03:16and by annual financial support from viewers like you
03:22this is frontline
03:29additional funding for this program was provided by the California Wellness Foundation
03:37the Center on Crime Communities and Culture of the Open Society Institute
03:41the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
03:43the Columbia Foundation
03:45and the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation
03:52the mystery of the Garcia gun would not be solved in New York City but 3,000 miles away in an area east of Los Angeles known as the Inland Empire
04:12known as the Inland Empire
04:27it was here that agents from the ATF had been mounting undercover operations to stem the tide of illegal guns
04:34I'm out to buy guns and explosive devices that are operable that are functioning that are loaded
04:46I don't know any other facet of work where the slightest mistake you know could be your last
04:59Daryl McCrary was an Air Force Special Agent during the Gulf War
05:06for the last five years he's worked undercover for ATF
05:11I've been in more danger
05:16during my undercover assignments
05:19in the United States
05:21than I've ever been in
05:23or ever felt associated with my time in the military
05:30I mean I've seen pretty much everything
05:33from machine guns to two shot derringers
05:36to high capacity 16 plus round handguns
05:4130 round drum fed guns
05:44street sweepers
05:46mac 10s that are often seen in the movies
05:51it is just a hodgepodge of different guns accessories
05:56tools of the trade if you will
05:58small caliber 25 caliber semi-automatic pistol
06:01the caliber on this is a 9mm demilitarized version
06:05basically an M16
06:06modified shotguns
06:08those are the ones that have been
06:10the barrel has been sawed off at one end
06:12this is a referred to as a spaz 12
06:15this is an assault shotgun
06:17what would someone do with this
06:19nothing more than cause a lot of damage
06:22and you know wreak a lot of havoc
06:26with a firearm like this
06:28imagine
06:29this is basically a grenade throw
06:31you know that's what this is
06:33no more than that
06:35every gun in this room was recovered by ATF
06:39as part of a criminal investigation
06:42but few can ever be traced back to a criminal
06:45so it was no surprise when the ATF failed
06:48to trace the Lorsen 380 that killed Evelyn Garcia
06:52the search for the Garcia gun might have died there
06:56but a few months earlier
06:58McCrary had received an eyebrow raising tip
07:00from a confidential informant
07:02the usually reliable CI believed that he could get
07:06two Lorsen 25 caliber handguns
07:09new in the box
07:10and completely clean
07:12street language for a gun that cannot be traced back to the buyer
07:16the guns came to us in the box
07:19one of the things that stood out was the barcode
07:22there was actually a barcode on the box
07:25not only were the guns brand new
07:27their serial numbers ran sequentially
07:30starting with the number 1
07:32meaning that some of these guns were the first ones
07:35ever manufactured by Lorsen
07:37McCrary was suspicious
07:39but that we were buying that first case
07:42you know bells and whistles were going off
07:47Special Agent Daryl McCrary
07:49with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Fire
07:50after we started field office
07:52I'll be attempting to make a purchase of one case
07:56which is approximately 36 Lorsen 25 caliber handguns
08:01from our primary subject
08:03Jeremy Mendoza
08:05investigation number 9319595005005
08:13S as in Sierra
08:15McCrary arranged to meet the gun supplier
08:1922 year old Jeremy Mendoza
08:21by posing in his words
08:23as just some knucklehead wanting to buy guns
08:26you got them black matte ones or
08:29they're just the crones
08:31just crones
08:32I keep it simple
08:33it's not television
08:35it's not Dirty Harry
08:37it's Daryl McCrary's life
08:40in the balance based on
08:42what decisions I make
08:43and how I present myself to people
08:45it's a nice gauge man
08:46that new?
08:47yeah
08:48how much you get for that?
08:51Mendoza's asking price was $40 a gun
08:54an unusually low street price
08:56for a completely clean weapon
08:58when I was trying to get these
08:59you got a pager I could blow you up with
09:00or something like that
09:01it's a very dangerous environment
09:04and it's an ever changing environment
09:06and you've got to be very quick on your feet
09:09and you've got to have the ability to adapt
09:11very quickly to changing situations
09:13hey well if I give you a pager
09:15can I give you a pager number and then
09:16the first time I was introduced to him
09:18I was wearing a wire
09:19and that is to say that
09:21I was wearing a device
09:23and
09:25my confidential informant
09:27without even
09:29giving me any type of forewarning
09:32or whatever
09:33he just reaches up
09:35and he slaps Mendoza upside the head
09:37bam!
09:38and I'm thinking
09:39what the hell is going on here?
09:41it's like
09:42everything changes
09:44within a split second
09:45and I'm going
09:46oh it's
09:47it's
09:48it's all going to
09:49to hell now
09:50in the hand basket
09:51immediately
09:53you know
09:54I assume a defensive posture
09:55because I don't know what's going on
09:56and immediately
09:58the CI goes
09:59hey man you got a wasp on you
10:01you got a wasp on you
10:02and he starts beating Mendoza
10:03and Mendoza starts beating himself
10:05and he's jumping around
10:06and at that time
10:07the guy's looking at me
10:08and he's going
10:09and I'm thinking
10:10what what what
10:11my fly's open
10:12I look down and
10:13my wire's dangling on my legs
10:15I'm like
10:16reach down grab it
10:17and stuff it in my pocket
10:18and just as I do that
10:19Mendoza straightens up
10:20and he turns around
10:21and he looks at me
10:22and it's like
10:23for a moment there
10:24he knows something's not right
10:25but he doesn't know what it is
10:26and I just start talking again
10:27okay you said you were going to do
10:28you alright?
10:29you said you were going to do what?
10:30and it was just the luck
10:32of the draw
10:33that that particular day
10:35wasn't my day
10:37to be called up I guess
10:39Mendoza offered to meet again
10:41and guaranteed
10:42a steady supply of guns
10:44what shocked McCrary
10:45was the sheer numbers for sale
10:49when you're out
10:50in an undercover capacity
10:51or you work with an informant
10:53he brings back one gun
10:54that's no big deal
10:55when he brings back
10:56two or three guns
10:57that's no big deal
10:59when they pull up
11:01you know
11:02it's kind of like shopping
11:03on the home
11:04shopping network
11:05and they open up their trunk
11:06and there are cases of guns
11:07in the trunk
11:08you can barely hide
11:10you're surprised
11:11I mean I'm literally
11:13having to think to myself
11:14don't
11:15don't give yourself away
11:16don't give yourself away
11:17just relax
11:18you know take a deep breath
11:19look off
11:20because I'm thinking
11:21there's no way
11:22that this guy has all these guns
11:24there's no way
11:25how can you have all these guns?
11:27nobody would have all
11:28I don't see this many guns
11:29if I go to the gun shop
11:30you know
11:31and to know
11:32that they must have come
11:33from somewhere
11:34and they're brand new
11:35and they're in the box
11:36and they're packaged
11:37you're thinking
11:38you know
11:39you know
11:40where the hell did this come from?
11:42what Daryl McCrary was seeing
11:43was the tip of the iceberg
11:45for the previous ten years
11:47the inexpensive pistol market
11:49had skyrocketed
11:50and with it
11:51the number of illegal guns
11:52on the streets
11:53in California
11:55for every ten thousand
11:56cheap handguns
11:57sold each year
11:58roughly twenty two hundred
12:00have shown up in crimes
12:02it is an explosion
12:03that has caught
12:04even veteran law enforcement officers
12:06by surprise
12:07eighty fifty eight
12:10we're talking a lot of guns
12:12we average
12:13probably eight to ten guns
12:15being brought in here
12:16daily
12:17I mean it's overwhelming
12:19the amount of guns
12:20when I first started here
12:22we averaged
12:23maybe one gun a week
12:25Scotty Zolko works
12:26in the evidence vault
12:27of the San Bernardino
12:28police department
12:29it's his job
12:30to keep track
12:31of weapons
12:32recovered from crime scenes
12:33a task
12:34getting harder
12:35to keep up with
12:36every year
12:37the boxes
12:38on the shelves
12:39are all handguns
12:40and there's an average
12:41of about forty guns
12:42in each box
12:43when I came here
12:45in nineteen seventy five
12:47we had a gun room
12:48that was probably
12:49smaller than
12:50this aisle right here
12:52and we only probably
12:54we probably only had
12:55a hundred hundred and fifty guns
12:57total
12:58long guns
12:59and handguns
13:00there's a lot of guns in here
13:02there's probably
13:03in excess of ten thousand guns in here
13:05police departments across southern California recover and dispose of nearly forty thousand guns every year
13:20while all makes and models of guns have flooded the illicit market
13:24the weapon of choice
13:26the weapon of choice for gun traffickers
13:27is the inexpensive
13:28easily concealed
13:29pistol
13:31where's he at now?
13:33in the back right now
13:34is anybody back to liquor?
13:36yeah
13:37the dramatic increase
13:38in the number of cheap handguns
13:39manufactured in the nineteen eighties
13:41and early nineties
13:42paralleled the tripling in youth gun deaths
13:45how many times did he shoot at you?
13:48how many times did he shoot at you?
13:49how many times did he shoot at you?
13:51just once?
13:52was he close to you or far away?
13:54do you know if it was a revolver or an automatic?
13:56no
13:57no
13:58no
13:59no
14:00no
14:01no
14:02no
14:03no
14:04no
14:05no
14:06no
14:07no
14:08no
14:09no
14:10no
14:11no
14:12no
14:13no
14:14no
14:17no
14:18I'm an ER doc
14:19I practice emergency medicine
14:20and I used to do it full time
14:22it's not enough just to treat trauma
14:25we need to prevent it
14:27and that if we want to expand our ability
14:29to save people from dying from a gunshot wound
14:32we need to keep them from getting shot in the first place
14:35Dr. Garen Wintemute has been working for new regulation of the firearms industry for the past ten years
14:42his main target is the cheap handgun
14:46the idea here is to refocus upstream
14:49but it's foolish to ignore as we have for so long with regard to firearm violence where it starts
14:55and that's with the manufacture of firearms
14:57I'm actually something of a moderate in the spectrum of gun policy
15:11I don't own any guns at the moment but I have in the past I've taught shooting for a living
15:17I grew up with guns to some extent
15:21and I think they have a legitimate role to play in society
15:24I think the role they do play has gotten entirely out of control
15:27the basic consumer protection framework
15:32that people have come to know and rely upon for everything from motor vehicles to teddy bears
15:37simply does not exist
15:39and it does not exist as a result of conscious and deliberate action taken by Congress in the 1960s
15:54The very existence of the inexpensive homegrown handgun market
15:58can be traced to the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968
16:02eager to do something to stop the flow of cheap small caliber guns like the one that killed Kennedy
16:11the federal government demanded new strict controls on imported handguns
16:17what in the name of conscience will it take
16:22to pass a truly effective gun control law
16:29but the 1968 gun control act would have unintended consequences
16:36its restriction on foreign guns created an entirely new protected American industry
16:42which now produces all of the country's cheap low caliber handguns
16:53six companies in southern California dominate the business
16:57all located within a one-hour drive of the hotel where Kennedy was shot
17:02together the companies manufacture over a quarter of a million guns each year
17:06for a combined annual sales of nearly fifteen million dollars
17:13Bryco Arms
17:14Lorsen
17:16Davis
17:17Phoenix
17:18and Sundance
17:21three years ago Dr. Garen Wintemute published a report on these companies
17:25damning the production methods and marketing practices of the group he calls
17:29the ring of fire
17:32it's borrowed from the term describing the volcanoes that sit around the rim of the Pacific Ocean
17:37and there was an effort to link by adopting that term to link the sense of
17:44hazard associated with those volcanoes to these firearms manufacturers
17:48We specifically looked at a known number of guns made by each company in a defined period of time
17:57so that we could look at the risk per gun, if you will, of being involved in crime
18:04regardless of the number of guns any particular company made
18:07and it was on that basis that we found that guns from the ring of fire companies
18:12were more than three times as likely to show up in ATF's tracing data
18:16as were guns from other major manufacturers
18:20Something is different about the way these guns are functioning in the criminal community
18:25He's had quite a devastating effect
18:27He has promoted the idea that our guns are unsafe
18:36and he's done this in a reckless and careless manner
18:40and he's gotten a number of people to believe it
18:43Bruce Jennings is the patriarch of the Southern California gun industry
18:48A brand new P-51 Mustang
18:54built two years ago by hand
18:57It's got a Rolls-Royce engine in it at 1,640 horsepower
19:02450 mile an hour airplane
19:07We're just ordinary people, living ordinary lives
19:11You know, we're not out here creating problems
19:16We're just minding our own business
19:19and, you know, concentrating on manufacturing and sales of firearms
19:23It's a legitimate business, it's an interesting business, and we enjoy it
19:28Bruce Jennings is the president of B.L. Jennings
19:31One of the largest distributors of small caliber pistols in the country
19:35A company he started as a spin-off from his father George's firearms business
19:42My father tried everything in business
19:44He tried the fishing pole holders, he tried hair spray devices
19:48He tried tooling, he tried medical devices, snake bite kits
19:53My father's arms were just covered with scars from where he was testing a snake bite cutter kit
20:00He was quite an inventor and a very interesting man
20:04But most of his ideas were a little bit on the odd side
20:07Here is when my father was doing fishing pole holders
20:13A little, you know, plastic PVC and a metal stake for a fishing pole holder
20:18But what he did, he doodled on paper continuously
20:22And this is one of the guns that he developed
20:25You could see the shape of the gun, you could see little mechanisms and little sketches
20:28This design would later become the Raven 25 caliber pistol
20:35One of the most successful guns ever manufactured
20:38George Jennings would sell 3 million of them over the next 25 years
20:42George Jennings' son, Bruce, learns the trade from Dad
20:49Splits off in 1978 to found his own company, Jennings Firearms
20:55Bruce's sister, Gail, splits off with her husband, Jim Davis
21:00Who's George Jennings' plant manager, to found Davis Industries in 1982
21:04And then onto the market also comes a high school buddy of Bruce Jennings by the name of Jim Waldorf
21:11Who decides there's room here for me too
21:14His plant manager is the disaffected brother, John, of Jim Davis' husband to Gail Jennings' daughter to George Jennings
21:22Not to leave out George's nephew, Steve, who also found a company that never got very big and has since gone out of production
21:29It's one family
21:31Hey, look here, man
21:35These motherfuckers ain't gonna come back to me, right?
21:37I mean, this shit ain't gonna come back to me if something happens, drop or something like that, right?
21:40Nope, I don't know you, you don't know me
21:42Right
21:44McCrary's investigation was into its second month, when Mendoza revealed something new
21:48Instead of the cheap .25 calibers he had been selling, Mendoza unwrapped two cases of powerful Lorsen 9mm pistols
21:56The increasingly popular gun on the street
21:58You know what I'm saying?
22:01At the crucial moment, as the cover team was taping the buy, McCrary got another surprise
22:07So, I'm standing here and right in the middle of that, a big tractor trailer, 18-wheeler, pulls up into the parking lot
22:13He cuts right in the middle of our deal
22:17I mean, so, while we're doing this deal, it's like, pretty much for anybody else out there, I don't exist anymore
22:22So, I'm thinking, you know, I'm gonna have, well, hold up, man, I need this, you know, this man in this truck, he's kinda peeking us out
22:27You know, I wanna make sure that we're doing this deal and nobody really knows what we're doing, you know
22:32So, he accommodates me and he says, okay, no problem
22:34You know, we start talking about his car and, you know, girls and stuff like that
22:38And I'm waiting, I'm thinking, this is the truck from hell
22:41This guy goes forward, then he backs up
22:43Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah
22:45This motherfucker, let me get this dude out of this truck
22:48We're talking about 415, right?
22:50Cool
22:51Something's doing here, man
22:55Can't believe this, man, what's up with this, man?
22:57Coldest heat, he got this dude fucking around in this truck
23:00And I'm thinking, well, what is this?
23:02This is, any time but now, you know, we'd have never been able
23:05I couldn't have found a truck if I needed one, but now this big truck's here
23:09And what I'm trying to do is slow this deal down
23:12So that we capture this for later, you know, prosecutorial reference
23:18We're able to say, this is what happened on this particular date
23:21And associate it with some tape, some footage
23:24See, that way, you can just hit me up
23:26I ain't got it, cause last night, man, I was trying to get up
23:28I'm coming from LA, fucking traffic's bad
23:30I get up here, man, homeboy told me, he talked to me yesterday
23:32He said, oh, yeah, homeboy got him, you know, come on up
23:35Right
23:36Finally, the truck pulls off, and I'm like, okay, this guy's gone
23:40I'm looking around, everything's okay
23:42We do the deal, we count some money out, everything's square, boom
23:46We're off to the races, but it was like, you know, just like I said, Murphy's gonna rear his ugly head
23:51And it seemed like every time we would get together, it would be one more thing that would happen
23:55You know, first it's the B thing, now it's the truck
23:57The very next day, Agent McCrary learned that his biggest worry had come true
24:04That he was not Mendoza's only client
24:07An ex-con known as Andre Mitchell was also selling the same models of Lorsen guns to another ATF undercover agent
24:15Yeah, what was special about this situation was, yeah, the guns were cheap, and the amount
24:21We were haggling over, how many do I get for 10, how many do I get for 15, what about later and getting some cases or something down the road
24:26So, it just seems like this guy had a, you know, endless supply, you know, and he was confident that he could get more
24:35He asked, hey man, where are you getting these guns?
24:38And Mitchell replied, I know a guy who's getting them from the factory
24:43And this was a very crucial piece of information
24:48Because now we knew the source of the guns
24:51We knew the gun type
24:53Now we knew the source of the guns
24:56Which would lead us in a different direction
25:01Alarmed at the spreading gun sales
25:04McCrary decided to put out a trace on the pistols he was buying from Mendoza
25:08Through both the ATF and California systems
25:12He got the same puzzling results as the New York police when they tried to trace the Garcia gun
25:17According to Lorsen, the guns with those serial numbers had never been produced
25:23There was nothing on the gun, it was as if this gun was never sold, never existed
25:30So, essentially you have a gun that has no history
25:35McCrary then learned that Mendoza actually worked at Lorsen
25:40Every sign pointed to an inside job
25:44To find out how deep the Lorsen gun ring went
25:47McCrary decided to broaden his search to include criminal records involving any Lorsen gun
25:53Crime by crime, he patiently developed a system for tracing the guns
26:00It's only after I get this list that I realized, you know, the magnitude of this problem
26:07These are coming directly from the factory, these are hot off the presses, if you will
26:13We're able to realize that this guy is a hot commodity
26:17He does, in fact, work for Lorsen Engineering
26:19It's getting that special prize in the crackerjack box, and that's what we got
26:24Lorsen Engineering is the country's fifth largest handgun manufacturer
26:28Its president, Jim Waldorf, prides himself on making the world's most affordable handguns
26:36Is this one of your better sellers?
26:38It's a good seller, but our best seller is actually the .380
26:42The .380 is the number one selling handgun in the United States
26:45It's a seven shot capacity
26:50We've sold quite a few of them, I think, as far as .380 production goes in the United States
26:55We were probably 40% of the .380 sales in 1993
27:00Forty percent?
27:02Forty percent in 1993
27:04That's an incredible figure
27:06Well, we truly are the world's most affordable handguns
27:08And we consider ourselves actually the blue collar gun of America
27:10So you've done good numbers with this as well?
27:13It's been a very popular seller
27:15It's been a very popular seller
27:17Essentially, affordable firearms or a gun that does not have a retail price tag of perhaps $600
27:22Is a Chevrolet, it's not a Mercedes
27:24Functions extremely well
27:26Quality is extremely good
27:28But we build Chevrolets, and the average American drives a Chevrolet
27:32They don't drive a Mercedes
27:34With this firearm
27:36Retail's in the area of about $149
27:38That's fantastic
27:42I pay an average of $600 for the firearm that I carry
27:47We're giving them affordable self-protection
27:50There's two million people a year that defend themselves with a handgun
27:54And you don't hear that on the 6 o'clock news
27:56And we're giving them affordable self-protection
27:59Something that the blue collar worker can afford to keep in his dresser or drawer at home to protect his family
28:04It's cheap, for sure, the prices are low, and if that's what they mean by affordable, I agree
28:09I very much disagree with their contention that these guns, on balance, are protection
28:15Like the other companies, Lorsen promotes its guns primarily as a means of self-protection
28:21But there's actually a great deal of evidence, in fact, there's a periodical called gun tests, which I think arguably might be considered consumer reports for the gun community
28:32Doesn't accept advertising, calls it like they see it
28:36They class these guns generally as potentially worse than useless for defensive purposes
28:40Gun test magazine
28:43Which, speaking of your 22, said we wouldn't pay any amount of money for a gun that self-destructs in a couple hundred rounds
28:51Stay away from this one
28:53Well, number one, I think you have to realize that gun test magazine is an extremely, extremely critical magazine
28:59And I think that number two, you'd want to take a look at what issue of gun tests that was
29:05And it's probably a very old issue
29:06May 96
29:07May 96
29:08May 96
29:09I haven't seen that issue
29:10I haven't seen that issue
29:11I haven't seen that issue
29:20Gun tests magazine, like Garen Wintermute, has been critical of almost all the Ring of Fire guns
29:27And it's jammed again
29:29I'm not going to be able to clear this one
29:31Can I get some professional help here?
29:37I point my gun at the bad guy, I pull the trigger and the gun locks up
29:42As they often do, as they have in my hands
29:44I'm not speaking hypothetically here
29:46Suddenly, I'm facing an armed intruder with a gun in my hand pointed at him that is useless to me
29:51I'm in deep trouble
29:52Garen Wintermute's research has inspired 31 communities in California to pass laws banning the sale of low quality guns
30:02Threatening the profits of companies like Lorsen
30:05America was built with firearms
30:10And it's certainly a person's civil right to own a firearm
30:14And I think that when you start looking at prohibiting ownership of a firearm based on the price of the firearm
30:21You've just taken a very large segment of society and told them that they don't belong to an elitist class
30:27And therefore they have no right to defend their family
30:29So you think that those laws would be discriminatory?
30:34Absolutely discriminatory
30:36I feel they'd be more discriminatory than slavery
30:39More discriminatory than slavery?
30:41Absolutely
30:43It also comes with a detachable wrist strap or shoulder straps for the ladies
30:47You don't want to let the ladies out of it
30:50Carry that also on your shoulders
30:52I like that one
30:55Yeah, this one's nice
30:56This one and this one
30:59Which one was the one that you said?
31:01Manufacturers like Lorsen achieve their success by keeping sales volume high
31:07They do so by constantly developing new technologies, new materials, and new markets
31:14That's a little different than the other one
31:16Yeah, it is the back coming from your table lens
31:19This pink grip comes in .22 caliber as well as the .25 caliber
31:23Women are probably 25% of our sales, but it's growing
31:29But there is a huge consciousness of personal safety in the women's market
31:34A dealer survey suggested that it wasn't actually women that were buying them
31:38It was men that were buying them for their wives and their girlfriends
31:41Okay, and there was an assumption that they liked pink
31:43Assumption they liked feminists type of thing
31:45And as Carlotta pointed out, she'd prefer a black guy
31:48I prefer a black guy
31:49As I think most people do
31:52They have a famous ad with three of their pistols
31:54One with a pearl-handled grip, one with a pink grip
31:57And the caption on the ad is
31:59Three little ladies that get the job done
32:02The handgun industry exhibits all the behaviors of a consumer product industry
32:06Well, the feel of a gun in itself is kind of a powerful feel
32:14You get to pick something up that makes you more equal than the person standing next to you
32:21And a lot of people thrive for that
32:23Most people love to pick up a gun and feel it
32:27They like the way that it feels in their hand
32:29It transfers a kind of a spiritual feel into their body by holding such a powerful piece
32:38But the gun is a very sensual item
32:41It's a very powerful, sensual piece of equipment
32:48This little pistol has a laser device located in the frame
32:53And the frame of the gun is made out of polymer, which is plastic
32:59And this is the new standard
33:02This is where 1997 the firearms industry is headed
33:06The laser, I'll demonstrate it here, is this red dot
33:10The red dot is where the bullet will impact
33:14It's a very fun feature for a gun
33:17And especially when you're doing target shootings
33:19It's very, very fun
33:20The laser will tell you where that bullet's going to go
33:23But it doesn't tell you what's there
33:25It doesn't tell you that that moving target at the other end of the darkened room
33:30Is a bad guy and not a member of your family who's gotten up to go to the bathroom
33:34The most recent studies show firearms kill nearly 40,000 Americans a year
33:42Injure over twice as many
33:44And are involved in nearly a million crimes
33:46But Americans have mixed feelings about their guns
33:51Two-thirds believe guns contribute to violence
33:55The same number believe they need them for protection
34:03When you have them, man, just set a case aside, man, I can get at them
34:06You know what I'm saying? You set a case aside, I can get at them
34:08You know what I'm saying? They'll go
34:09All right, man, it's all good
34:11I'll get with you
34:13The Mendoza case was entering a crucial stage
34:17Four-door Chevy, California lights plate O-U-R, Oscar's uniform, Romeo, 701
34:25Chevrolet Impala, light cream color
34:28I'm riding back of them
34:29I'm riding back of them
34:33McCrary found himself caught in the classic undercover agent's dilemma
34:38He knew the source of the guns, but he didn't know who else might be involved
34:43The longer he spent investigating, the more guns would hit the streets
34:48And Mendoza was putting a lot of guns on the street
34:52We had made deals to buy as many as four or five cases of these guns at one time
34:59It was just that this particular person was selling them, being Mendoza, selling them faster
35:03And we could keep up with them
35:05Try as we might, I mean, he was selling too fast
35:08And, you know, obviously our anxiety level was going to go up because of that
35:13We did not want to miss one gun
35:15If we had the opportunity to buy it, that was an opportunity that that gun wasn't going to go out on the street
35:19And be used in a crime
35:2118 cases, 25 calibers, that's 36 guns to a case
35:26Or 9mm, that's 30 guns to a case
35:29And he's owed 18 cases
35:31You know, you're thinking, you know, this guy's serious
35:35This is for real, there's no doubt about it
35:37This guy's a player, and we've got to take him down as quickly as possible
35:41Jeremy Mendoza had no criminal record
35:44He had been employed at Lorson for almost two years
35:48And was considered a quiet but good employee
35:51Who worked in the powder coating section that bakes the rough black finish onto the guns
35:55The finish that hampered the police in Far Rockaway from getting fingerprints off the Garcia gun
36:02When McCrary learned that a shipment of Mendoza's guns had reached all the way to Sacramento
36:06He decided it was time to go to the Lorson plant and bring him in
36:10An average industrial complex, much like you'd find in any other part of Southern California
36:19I know I was quite surprised the first time I came down here
36:25To find that a gun manufacturer would be in a building such as this
36:29The morning that we arrested Mendoza, we walk in and what we see is just boxes and boxes of guns
36:41And we don't see anybody
36:43We don't see any workers, we don't see any security
36:47We don't see anybody
36:49And we kind of look at each other as if to say, well, you know, what's going on?
36:53Suddenly, we do see a worker and he doesn't seem particularly interested in us
36:56We make contact with him and we
37:00He walks back and he gets Mendoza who comes up
37:03And I just walked up to him
37:06And I pulled out my badge
37:08And I said, you know what time this is?
37:12And he said, yeah
37:14And, uh, it was simply that
37:18I mean, there was a brief look of surprise
37:21And then there was a resignation of
37:25You got me
37:27When McCrary entered the Lorson factory, what he saw had shocked him
37:31Here at one of the biggest gun manufacturers in the country
37:35He says he was within arm's reach of guns in all states of assembly
37:40With nobody there to stop him
37:41I've dealt with security on a pretty high level
37:47And, uh, anybody with a security background with knowledge of this would probably say
37:55What security?
37:59Michael Bryant had worked at Lorson as a production line supervisor
38:04Overseeing 30 workers, including Jeremy Mendoza
38:08Well, there was no security
38:11There was absolutely no security at all
38:13They had no security officers, no metal detectors, anything like that
38:17So, people would walk in during lunchtime and walk into the shipping and receiving department
38:21Just look at the guns, just play with them a little bit and look at them and see how they looked
38:25Put them back inside the box and go about their business
38:28Did they ever take them out of the box and keep them?
38:30Oh, yes! There were guns missing
38:33Now the shipping and receiving department
38:34If, if you were slick about it and watchful, you can take whatever you wanted
38:40Uh, guns were stored in locked rooms
38:43And the locks weren't sufficient enough to keep the two employees out of the rooms
38:48Did you have security guards?
38:50No, we didn't, not at the time
38:52Did you have any kind of fencing or locked?
38:54Uh, they were locked, closed rooms
38:56And I think that if you take a thief that's intent on stealing something
39:00If they want something bad enough, they're gonna steal it
39:02A gun manufacturer has to have a certain level of controls because this is a controlled item
39:08Every gun that is serialized is a controlled item
39:13And to be able to just walk in
39:16To a building and not be questioned
39:18For a gun manufacturer, it's out of the question
39:23I, it just would be unfathomable
39:27I mean, it would be like
39:29Being able to walk into a major department store
39:33With nobody there
39:35And all the goodies there for the taking
39:37Let me give you as a contrast, Smith & Wesson
39:39Go to Smith & Wesson
39:42Hundreds and hundreds of yards away from the manufacturing facility
39:46You encounter a gate
39:48You do not get through that gate without clearance of the very burly, very well informed
39:53And electronically connected security guard who's in a block house
39:58And if you did get in, you'd have a hard time getting into the plant
40:01Most of Smith & Wesson's plant is underground for security reasons
40:04It was built at a time when they were worried about its destruction as an act of war
40:11But Smith & Wesson is like a fortress
40:13Lorson is like a park
40:15Here you're producing firearms
40:17And you have them being stolen by the thousands
40:20And there's not even a fence, there's not even a security guard
40:25Now listen, that's a pretty sensational aspect
40:28And it's a very sensitive aspect to me
40:29Because I don't like the idea of thinking that people stole a couple thousand handguns from us either
40:35I told Jim exactly what was going on
40:37I told Jim that there was drugs being sold in this plant
40:40I told him that there were guns coming up missing
40:44And that there was racism in the plant
40:46And then Jim said, okay, I'm gonna investigate and I'll call you back
40:49Bryan says that so many guns went missing from the factory floor
40:54That he was afraid he might at some point be blamed for the losses
40:56He devised an inventory system of his own to keep track of the gun parts coming and going from his department
41:04So I developed a system
41:07And kept accurate count of the 380 frames, the slides, and the 25 slides and frames
41:14And I would write down the time in one box
41:16In one box
41:17I would write A and B
41:19And then how many?
41:21102
41:23Left at 837 AM
41:26I would be 100 would be complete with the blue
41:29Because I had it also color coded also
41:31So I would have a document to show
41:33How many slides and frames that went into the department and came out
41:37Soon after starting the inventory system
41:41Bryant was fired from the company
41:43He filed a racial discrimination suit that was settled out of court by Lorsen
41:48For $3,000
41:50Found it
41:53The impact of Lorsen's security and accounting problems were showing up in police departments across the country
42:07As when Scotty Zolko tried to trace a Lorsen .25 caliber reported stolen in Riverside County
42:14The gun that we pulled out is stolen from a shipment of guns that was sent out of the Lorsen factory
42:21According to the records they had it missing since February of 96 and we've had it here since February of 95
42:28I don't know
42:33Cute, isn't it?
42:38I don't know what they do over there and how long it takes them to discover something is missing
42:44But if it takes a year
42:47A lot of things could happen with that gun in a year
42:50According to an internal ATF memorandum, the agency has experienced considerable difficulty tracing guns through Lorsen for several years
43:01And they say there have been over 100 traces in which Lorsen provided incorrect information to ATF
43:08The biggest problem of this kind they have ever had with a gun manufacturer
43:12We have done the best at accounting for every single gun that we manufacture that is humanly possible
43:22You've not heard at all that there was a problem with guns being traced to Lorsen and Lorsen saying that the gun had not been manufactured
43:33Guns that had been used in crimes
43:35No
43:36You've never heard this before?
43:38I've heard an allegation but I don't think that it's ever been confirmed
43:43So
43:47You really did not know of any accounting problems that the company had?
43:53I had heard allegations but I think every company in the world has had accounting problems
43:58And again, I wish we could get into more detail but you've absolutely worn me down
44:02Well I'd like to talk about it more
44:03I think everybody should be equal
44:06Frontline has learned that ATF is conducting a criminal investigation of Lorsen
44:10Trying to determine if it broke the law by failing to report missing guns
44:15And whether Lorsen misled the ATF during its investigation
44:20But this case has also raised questions about the agency itself
44:25And the way it traces guns
44:26My name's Tammy and I'm with the ATF Tracing Center in West Virginia
44:31I need some assistance with a gun trace
44:33During the year of the Mendoza investigation
44:36The unsuccessful traces of Lorsen guns all came through the ATF National Tracing Center
44:42Yet no one saw a pattern and raised a red flag
44:46ATF I think ends up damned if they do and damned if they don't
44:49They are attempting to regulate an industry with one hand and several other fingers tied behind their back
44:57A simple computer program could have alerted ATF to the unusual pattern of the Lorsen traces
45:04But they didn't have one
45:05And that's not the only inefficiency in the system
45:09Part of the problem is that Congress has forbidden ATF from using computers to track gun sales
45:15Not wanting to create a central registry
45:18Instead, the ATF must follow a paper trail
45:21And rely on a labor-intensive process that finds the gun's owner in less than half of its cases
45:28I need to speak to someone who can give me assistance with a gun trace
45:31It's tremendously inefficient and it's inefficient by design
45:33The last time they tried to make a serious effort to regulate not just the industry but even illegal commerce in firearms
45:43There was a serious effort made to abolish them altogether
45:46I think ATF as a law enforcement agency
45:49Deserves to have the sort of manpower, the sort of material resources that they need in order to do that job
45:55We're pleased to be able to give the Distinguished Achievement Award to special agents of ATF, DEA
46:01I know I got up in the morning, I had this case on my mind, I would sleep, I would dream about different parts of the case
46:08I'd wake up in the middle of the night and say, oh, I didn't think of that, you know
46:12I would have never imagined in a million years that, very new to the job, that I would, you know, stumble upon a case like this
46:21The magnitude, you know, all these guns, you know, I wouldn't have thought about this being in 15 years
46:28Darryl McCrary is now a rising star in ATF
46:32Honored by his colleagues for cracking one of the biggest cases in Bureau history
46:37But he's still bothered by the guns that got away
46:40Every gun that gets out is a gun that could be potentially used in a crime
46:45It's a gun that could be potentially used in an act of violence against another person
46:49And as an agent or as a police officer
46:53You have this edict that you're going to go out and you're going to prevent this from happening
46:58This one gun could mean a difference in, you know, a person going home at night
47:02After three years, McCrary knows what happened to only a fraction of the Mendoza guns
47:11This particular gun, serial number 367584, it's an L380
47:18It was recovered in, or a request for the trace was done in 1995 out of New York City
47:27That's the gun that killed Evelyn Garcia
47:31That's the information that I have
47:33This gun was used in a murder in New York City
47:36In addition to the gun that killed Evelyn Garcia
47:41The gun that never existed
47:43The Lorsen guns have already shown up in over 500 crimes
47:47A homicide in Virginia
47:50A robbery in Louisiana
47:52A carjacking in California
47:54They screamed and they pulled out guns saying everybody get down
48:01This woman was terrorized along with seven other people in the armed robbery of a restaurant
48:07I was waiting for a gunshot to go off
48:10I just thought this is it or somebody's gonna die here
48:14First you're like numb
48:16Karen Hayes was carjacked at gunpoint on her way to make a pizza delivery
48:20But after a while it all starts to sink in and that is, it is terrifying
48:25That's when you really get scared again
48:31I watched for days, for weeks
48:34I watched
48:36Make sure nobody follows me on
48:37The ATF now estimates that the Mendoza case alone put 6,000 illegal Lorsen guns onto the streets
48:48You've got to be kidding me
48:526,000 guns
48:53That is amazing
48:58That is amazing
49:02Jesus
49:04That is a small army
49:06To have 6,000 guns
49:09Out in the illicit market
49:11Is to have
49:126,000 or more potential violent encounters
49:16On any given day
49:18So I mean it's
49:20It's a nightmare in the making
49:22I mean you've got all the ingredients
49:25For trouble
49:27That trouble
49:29Started at Lorsen
49:31Has spread clear across the country
49:33I've got Charleston, South Carolina
49:35I've got Long Beach, California
49:37I've got Marion, Indiana
49:38Atlanta, Georgia
49:40How did they get from A to B?
49:41How did a gun that was made here
49:43That was stolen directly from the factory
49:45How does that gun get to Chicago?
49:48How does it get to Detroit?
49:50The guns kind of take on a life of their own
49:53There's a pattern here
49:55Mr. Waldorf, a bunch of your guns are missing
49:57It's not my fault
49:59Mr. Waldorf, your guns are used all the time in crime
50:01It's not my fault
50:03These folks are looking for
50:05Anybody else to take responsibility
50:07For the consequences of their actions
50:08It just doesn't fly
50:10I'm sorry
50:12I don't buy that
50:13Guns don't go off by themselves
50:15Somebody pulls a trigger
50:20This illicit business
50:22Of trafficking and firearms
50:24Is capitalism at its best
50:27Capitalism is all about return
50:29The selling of goods
50:30For the highest return
50:32It is a business
50:34And people should know that
50:36A thriving business
50:39A very big business
50:41This was cheap guns for the taking
50:45This was a great opportunity to exploit
50:49To exploit
50:55And this defendant
50:57Had a 380
50:59Lawson
51:01And he said
51:03Evelyn
51:05Evelyn
51:07And shot her
51:09Boom!
51:10In the head
51:11Daryl McCrary's investigation sent four street gun dealers to prison
51:32But so far
51:33The Justice Department has issued no indictments against Lorsen or its executives
51:42As the investigation continues into its third year
51:45The ATF estimates the number of guns missing from Lorsen has now reached nearly 14,000
51:50Still interested?
51:51Check out Frontline's website at this address
51:53How on target are you about the guns around us?
51:54Take our guns quiz and find out
51:55Or get a closer look at those junk guns and how they're rated
51:56Check out the best arguments on both sides about guns and gun control
51:58Or read what it feels like to be shot
51:59And much more at www.PBS.org
52:00www.PBS.org
52:02Learn more at www.PBS.org
52:04Still interested?
52:06Check out Frontline's website at this address
52:08How on target are you about the guns around us?
52:11Take our guns quiz and find out
52:14Or get a closer look at those junk guns and how they're rated
52:18Check out the best arguments on both sides about guns and gun control
52:23Or, read what it feels like to be shot
52:24And much more at www.PBS.org
52:29Next time on Frontline
52:33It's the new American dream
52:38For us
52:40This is about people making money
52:42And the government
52:43And about politicians controlling the system
52:45These guys are predators
52:47Why is the government even in the business of gambling?
52:53How much do we all stand to lose?
52:56Easy money
52:57Next time on Frontline
52:59Your comments about the Opium Kings,
53:07a story about the Burmese heroin trade,
53:09showed a range of opinions on the drug war
53:11and America's role in the war.
53:13Here's a sample.
53:14Seeing the cocksure, macho attitude
53:16of U.S. government officials in this program
53:19reminded me of the toughness
53:20that led to the debacle in Vietnam
53:22or the fiasco at Waco.
53:24Why is it that we always seem to back dictators
53:26like the Burmese junta?
53:28While heroin is certainly a plague on our country
53:31I would submit that the more dangerous drug
53:34especially in our policy-making offices
53:36is testosterone.
53:38Alan S. Thorpe
53:38Dear Frontline,
53:39It is utterly hypocritical for the American government
53:42to be persecuting Kunsa
53:44when America itself is the biggest exporter
53:46of one of the deadliest drugs known to mankind.
53:49American companies flood the world with cigarettes
53:51which kill far more people than heroin.
53:54Why go on this rampage against the poppy
53:56instead of tobacco?
53:58Obviously it is because tobacco provides enormous profits
54:00to American business.
54:01These are Monty Murdoch, Venice, California.
54:04Stopping Burmese opium production is a fool's game
54:07because there are millions of square miles of territory
54:09suitable for growing poppies all over the world.
54:12I am one of millions who are fed up
54:14with this brain-dead drug war
54:16which causes so much needless human misery worldwide.
54:19There is no way to stop drug use
54:21but if we legalize drugs
54:2395% of the troubles we have with narcotics
54:26will vanish like a bad dream.
54:28Robin Givens, San Francisco.
54:31Let us know what you thought about tonight's program.
54:33Let us know what you thought about tonight's program.
55:03Let us know what you thought about tonight's program.
56:39This is PBS.
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