Oklahoma prosecutors have increasingly targeted charges regarding gun crimes, seeking to enforce existing gun laws to obtain longer sentences.
In the state's Western District, which includes the state capital, U.S. Attorney Robert Troester has pursued two major gun initiatives which has led to gun charges shooting up from 46 five years ago to 187 in the past year, the Oklahoman reported. The strategy has been touted by prosecutors as a way to target and reduce violent crime, while defendants have criticized it enough to successfully push a 2018 law through which made "stacking" more difficult. Despite the law, gun charges have reached an all-time high.
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“We truly believe that initiative is saving lives,” Troester said of one of his two major gun initiatives, targeting domestic abusers.
“We know from statistics that (when) that abuser has interjected a firearm into the equation, if we don’t intervene at that point and charge it federally, the likelihood is the next time someone’s going to be dead, the victim or the police officer that walks through the door,” he said.
Prosecutors are cooperating with the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to most effectively pursue the strategy. Jeff Boshek, special agent in charge of the ATF Dallas Field Division, told the outlet that they are planning to add up to 10 new agents to Oklahoma City, which is expected to double the number of firearms cases.
“Our Oklahoma offices outperform the majority of ATF offices across the country. They are the best of the best,” he said, adding that the drastic increase in gun charges "in turn will make the community that much safer.”
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Troester also stressed that the initiative wasn't an attack on the Second Amendment and only targeted violent criminals.
"We're not anti-gun, at all," he said.