Balance of Power

    "According to the ATF, the P-2 is the number one semiautomatic handgun used in crimes. So criminals have gotten the message, and so has Lexington. Which accounts for the nature of the ad you imply that Bowden never saw.

    "That brings me to a second fact: because California has background checks, thirty percent of guns used in crimes in California come from out of state. Again, the P-2 is the number one semiautomatic crime gun in California. A disproportionate number of those guns originate with sales in Arizona and Nevada. As Lexington surely knows, it sells more guns in Nevada than the local traffic will bear—the so-called flooding phenomenon.

    "If Lexington doesn't believe some of those guns get passed to secondary buyers at gun shows in Nevada, it's because it doesn't want to. But, again, their ad suggests that they know this very well."

    Having a good expert, Sarah reflected, is akin to driving a Rolls Royce; you can just sit back and enjoy the ride. "And then," Walters went on, "there's the question of stolen guns.

    "It's an epidemic—roughly five hundred thousand thefts a year. The most prominent thieves are gun traffickers and survivalists: selling a stolen gun jacks up their profit margin to one hundred percent. And according to the ATF, the most popular stolen semiautomatic handgun is the Lexington P-2.

    "The best place for thieves and survivalists to sell weapons is at gun shows. There are potentially thousands of customers, unrestricted by any fear of background checks. In this case, Lexington chose to promote the sale of P-2s at gun shows, ostensibly by licensed dealers." Pausing, Walters gazed keenly at John Nolan. "But Lexington also knows, because it has to know, that gun shows are an important secondary market which keeps its product moving."

    Nolan stared at him. "Are you aware of any evidence," he demanded, "that John Bowden's gun is linked to traffickers or survivalists?"

    "No," the expert answered. "But that makes my point about Lexington's refusal to require background checks of gun-show promoters. Because we may never know.

    "But there's one thing we do know. If Bowden went to that gun show and the promoter had required a background check, he couldn't have bought that gun."

    Nolan hesitated. Then, to Sarah's silent satisfaction, he asked a question rooted in his ignorance of the ambush which awaited him. "But that's all speculation, isn't it? Survivalists, traffickers, stolen guns, whether Bowden saw this ad, even what Lexington actually knows about the purported use of its guns in crimes—none of it, in this case, has been established as fact."

    "Not at this time," Walters answered calmly. Even Nolan's coffee, Sarah reflected, was tasting unusually good.

* * *

    After lunch, Fancher commenced his questioning on behalf of the SSA.

    "Why," Fancher asked aggressively, "did you leave the ATF?"

    Walters folded his hands. "Because your client gutted its effectiveness."

    "Explain that, if you will."

    "Gladly. Through its allies in Congress, the SSA confined unannounced inspections of gun dealers to one a year—even for dealers the ATF believes are failing to run background checks. They reduced most violations to misdemeanors. They reduced the number of inspectors. They made sure that all records of background checks are destroyed within a day. They threatened to have their allies further reduce our budget if we fought this systemic war on our enforcement.

    "Even that wasn't enough. Unlike tobacco, guns can be made safer. But the SSA opposed laws requiring safety locks, or even safe gun storage, and other steps to prevent thousands of suicides and accidental deaths. All to further the Second Amendment."

    Fancher's tone became cutting. "Are you suggesting, Dr. Walters, that the SSA has no right to advocate gun ownership for law-abiding Americans, unfettered by the intrusiveness of the federal government?"

    "Then the SSA should be prouder of its best work." Walters's tone held the first hint of emotion. "For several years, the Centers for Disease Control kept figures on the frequency, costs and causes of gun violence in America. Then, again acting through its allies in Congress, the SSA cut off all funding for gun-related research. It's catch-22: your client blocks the development of empirical evidence to support laws like President Kilcannon's proposal, and then argues that no evidence exists."

    Walters paused, as though to retrieve his aura of calm. "As part of that effort, Senator Paul Harshman asked the head of the CDC if it was 'sending money to a Dr. Lawrence Walters.' I've never met Senator Harshman. But your client made sure that the senator had heard of me, and that the CDC knew to stay away."

    Walters sat back. "The SSA," he finished, "promotes fear and enforces ignorance. Imagine if we'd done that regarding polio or smallpox. The result would have been what the SSA has accomplished here: hundreds of thousands of crippled lives and needless deaths."