Federal prosecutors cracking down on gun violence this summer
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan was joined by local law enforcement officials at news conferences around West Michigan Thursday to announce the “Safe Summer” crackdown on gun crime.
The initiative is aimed at deterring gun violence, which tends to increase during the summer. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says it will take over prosecution of a case if it meets two criteria: it involves a federal firearms offense and a gun has been used in previous crimes.
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“We see as many as 12 incidents on the very same gun. The damage that these (illegally possessed crime) guns can do is immeasurable to our community,” Grand Rapids Police Department Chief Eric Winstrom said.
He said his office has seized an average of one illegally possessed gun each day so far this year.
The Safe Summer campaign was also held last year. U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said that under it, his office prosecuted a man named Anthony Pratt, 24, out of Kalamazoo for having a handgun equipped with what’s called a “switch,” which essentially turns a semi-automatic gun into a machine gun.
“The gun had an extended magazine. It was loaded with 17 bullets and with a single pull of a trigger, within a second would have emptied all of its bullets,” Totten said. “Investigators later determined that the gun was stolen and also that it was a crime gun.”
He said Pratt was recently sentenced to seven years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm — “almost certainly” more time than he would have gotten under state law.
Winstrom said West Michigan police are seeing switches “more and more” often and said he hopes the threat of federal prosecution will serve as a deterrent to anyone who might think about using one.
Totten said gun violence prevention is a community effort and his office plays only one part in it.
“We’re never going to prosecute our way out of the gun violence epidemic. This program is not offered as a cure-all. It is one part of a much larger solution, a solution that demands an all-hands-on-deck approach,” Totten said.
He said medical and mental health providers, employers, educators and caring adults are all part of that solution.
“There’s no acceptable level of violence,” Totten said. “Your ability to live without the fear of gun violence in your house, in your neighborhood, on your street, in your community should not be determined by your zip code. And my team will work day and night until everyone experiences that level of safety to try to address this problem.”
The Safe Summer campaign runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
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