Use of Assault Weapons Up in Miami
The use of assault weapons reportedly is surging in South Florida, as well as a few other areas, including Atlanta and parts of Texas near the Mexico border.
In 2004, assault weapons were used only in about 4 percent of all homicides in Miami, reports the Miami Herald. But, as of last year, they were used in 21 percent of all Miami homicides, according to Miami Police Chief John Timoney. ”They’re everywhere,” he says of the situation in his city. “At $100 or $200, everyone can afford one of these killing machines.”
The guns are legal to purchase, but often are used in crimes by individuals, such as convicted felons, who are prohibited by law from having them. Typically, illegal owners get assault weapons from straw buyers who purchase them legally and then resell them to others illegally, the newspaper reports.
”It’s an embarrassment, frankly,” Timoney says. “The guns keep coming in, their prices are dropping, and they’ve become ubiquitous.”
