City looking to stem flow of guns from northern N.E.

Guns are being brought into Boston from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine at a stepped-up pace, according to city officials, who are grappling with a significant rise in shootings and firearms arrests this year.

The guns from northern New England tend to be old and hard to trace. And as long as buyers have enough cash, they can purchase as many handguns and shotguns as they like, authorities say.

In the early 1990s, people trying to circumvent tough Bay State laws that required a state permit to buy a handgun would travel to North Carolina or Georgia in search of guns, police said.

But in the past six months, police have recovered more and more weapons from New England states, Mayor Thomas M. Menino said.

''We can't just put our heads in the sand and say there is no problem," Menino said. ''There is a problem. We have to address it."

The trend has troubled police, who recently joined forces with agents from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate gun crimes. In the coming weeks, Menino said he wants to hold a round-table discussion with other big-city mayors in Washington, D.C., to work on solutions. And he is planning to reach out to mayors from New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont to discuss how the city can work with the neighboring states to stop illegal gun trafficking.

Boston police officials have said that there are more guns on city streets now than at any time in at least six years and that many of them are being brought in illegally from out of state. The number of seized firearms was up 34 percent through Nov. 12 compared with the same period last year, and the number of firearm-related arrests rose by 39 percent through Nov. 16.

Through Nov. 16, there had been 40 firearm homicides and 262 nonfatal shootings recorded citywide.

Shorter distances are a big factor in the flow of weapons, and another is the availability of older guns, which tend to change hands so often that they are difficult to trace, police said.

''The proximity of New England states with less restrictive [gun laws] makes firearms more accessible to people here in Massachusetts," said Sergeant Thomas Sexton, a Boston Police Department spokesman. He said illegal guns are still coming from other states.

No official statistics are available on how many guns are coming from northern New England. Police said they are still trying to understand exactly how the weapons arrive on the street and why many are coming from there.

''You'd have to go back to specific trafficking cases in the past," said Boston Police Superintendent Paul Joyce. ''There may have been particular connections to that state."

Officials say more lenient gun laws in other states pose an ongoing problem.

''Massachusetts has excellent gun laws," said Larry Mayes, the city's chief of human services. ''But . . . if the neighboring states around us are lax, then we need to look at some strategies to strengthen our state borders."

Federal law requires a five-day waiting period in all 50 states for anyone seeking to buy a handgun from a federally licensed dealer, to allow for a criminal background check. In Massachusetts, in addition to passing the background check, a resident who wants a handgun must also pay $100 for a state-issued permit. Such permits are not required in New Hampshire, Vermont, or Maine, where people buying handguns need only identification that shows they are state residents.

It is against federal law for a Massachusetts resident to buy a gun out of state, then return with it. But a determined buyer can circumvent the law by going through a ''straw purchaser" -- a resident of Maine, Vermont, or New Hampshire who can easily purchase several guns from a dealer, then sell or give the guns away, said Daniel Kumor, an ATF agent in charge of the Boston office.

In many states, including Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, a private gun owner can legally sell a gun without conducting a background check, and there is no waiting period, Kumor said.

That loophole can allow a criminal to get a handgun from a private seller, said Jerry Madden, chief of the Concord Police Department in New Hampshire.

''That would be the crack in the door that would allow those things to happen," he said.

Those familiar with illegal gun trafficking say the process is simple. A person interested in buying a gun gets in his car, drives to a state where a permit is not required, then purchases as many guns as he can afford from a straw purchaser at a gun show or store. Then he returns to Boston, where he may tell a confidant to spread the word to prospective buyers.

''I know one person who took a trip about four times in a month," said a former drug dealer. ''Each time, he brought back six to 12 guns."

The dealer, a 26-year-old man who now volunteers with a Dorchester group that helps at-risk youth, asked for anonymity to protect his identity from the street criminals who confide in him.

The seller did not care who bought a gun from him, the man said. ''Anyone who had the money got it," he said.

The problem goes beyond Boston. In the past year, Hartford police have noticed that more guns from the streets were obtained in New Hampshire, said Matt Hennessy, chief of staff for Mayor Eddie A. Perez. The uptick followed a tightening of regulations that now require handgun buyers to obtain certification from Connecticut's Department of Public Safety.

''We've noticed it and we've been working on it," he said.

Law enforcement officials in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont acknowledge that their looser restrictions may lead to an influx of guns in cities like Boston and Hartford. But Madden, of New Hampshire, said tightening gun laws to stop the flow would be difficult because of strong lobbying from groups that advocate the right to bear arms.

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.