Interstate Highway 95, arms trafficking route in the United States

Interstate 95, which extends almost 3,100 kilometers from Florida to the border with Canada, is one of the largest routes in the trafficking of illegal weapons in the United States, according to a study by Columbia University published this Tuesday.

Researchers used gun tracking data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and measured interstate transfers of weapons used in crimes between 2019 and 2020.

Firearm transfers across state lines undermine local policies of gun control, said Christopher Morrison, a professor at the Columbia University School of Public Health in New York and one of the researchers.

“Our study showed that the interstate flow of firearms has crucial implications for violence prevention,” Morrison added.

According to the expert, it is important to understand how weapons flow in the country to identify trafficking routes and the impact that each state has on its neighbors.

In the period studied, 275,345 people died and 803,393 were treated in emergency rooms due to shootings, and in 2019 alone, More than 30,000 firearms traded in interstate purchases were used in crimes such as assaults, robberies and homicides.

The results show that in that period 526,801 guns used in crimes in the 48 states (not counting Alaska and Hawaii) were traced to interstate purchases, and that flow occurred around multiple interstate highways.

Investigators discovered other previously unidentified routes across the country and determined that firearms trafficking along Interstate 95 is more complex than previously estimated.

Highway 95 is one of the oldest highways in the United States highway system. and its route passes from Miami through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

According to the USAFacts platform, in 2019 New Hampshire was the state with the highest production of rifles, almost 328,000, and pistols with more than 700,000, while Florida was the state that produced the most revolvers with almost 190,000.

Illegal weapons trafficking also has an impact in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean where the smuggling of semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, pistols and revolvers contributes to violence and crimes by drug trafficking gangs and organizations.

According to research by the Wilson Center, in 2016, about 9,000 firearms originating in the United States were used in crimes in Mexico, and the figure reached about 15,000 weapons in 2022.

In that period, trafficking in semi-automatic rifles increased by 105%, that of shotguns by 85%, and that of handguns by 75%, according to the Wilson Center.