All language subtitles for black.market.with.michael.k.williams.s01e03.480p.hdtv.x264.rmteam

one in this country.

You know, you always hear
about people going down south,

and you bring guns
back to Brooklyn.

That was a common conversation

in the community
and the projects.

But I just never knew
how easy it was to do that.

How long have you been --
been selling guns?

Has the game
changed in your --

in these 2 years?
Has it gotten easier or harder?

Has the police wised up
to what the game is?

People don't feel safe.
That's part of the reason.

Our goal is just to simply
show the world a window

as to why people
do the things they do,

where that desperation
comes from.

It's like they say,
"When the system fails you,

you create your own system."

Growing up on these streets

in, um, in projects
in Flatbush Brooklyn,

I've seen a lot of violence,
a lot of gun violence, you know.

The flip side of that
is I started losing

a lot of friends.

Cities like New York
have tried to, um,

make the laws
more strict in regards

to getting illegal guns
out here on the streets.

But in my opinion,

I don't see much
difference still,

same senseless violence.

Oh, here we go.

Vast majority of illegal guns
on New York City streets

actually come from states
with lenient gun laws.

So I'ma try to find out

where these illegal guns
coming from

and how are they ending up
on New York City streets.

Yeah, I had heard
that Atlanta was

the starting point
for a lot of these guns,

so went down there
to meet the local gun runner.

What's good, man?
-How you doing?

Wanted to talk to you
about, you know, I mean,

the gun running
from Atlanta to New York.

How long have you been
in the business

of selling weapons?

Where are these guns
on the table,

where are they off to?

Am I correct in saying

that this is
a military assault rifle?

No one
feels safe anymore.

Like people just generally
don't feel safe.

Do you feel the same way
in regards?

Let me ask you
a question, man,

'cause I feel you
a conscious brother.

-Mm-hmm.
-You recognize the fact

that there's a good chance
that some of these weapons

that are being sold are gonna
probably end up in the hood

in another brother's hand

taking another
brother's life?

Does that bear any weight
on you at all?

You know what I'm saying?

Do I agree with his methods
of supporting himself?

You know, no.
But I do understand

and I empathize with his pain

as being a black man
with not enough to do

and resorting to what resources
is in the community.

Who am I to -- to judge that.

I felt it.

Georgia has over 2,000
licensed gun dealers.

That's almost triple
the number of McDonald's.

Federal law requires
licensed dealers

to run background checks.

Now these background checks
are supposed to stop gun sales

to drug addicts,

mentally ill people
and convicted felons.

But even if you have
a criminal record,

there's always a way
to get a gun.

So we asked a former
gun runner to show us

how traffickers
get their hands on guns.

Being from a small town
that had no jobs,

that's how I got in the game
in the first place.

And there was already
too many people selling drugs.

So I got caught up on weapons.

Over the course of a lifetime,

I probably had anywhere
from 2,000 to 3,000 guns.

I really don't have a count.

If someone wanted to buy
a gun right now,

I could get them a gun
this evening illegally.

I can go to people that I know
have illegal weapons

that you can just purchase
for a certain amount of money.

Those are the easiest
weapons to buy

because there are
people out there

that break into pawn shops
on the regular.

I would think that it would be
a very good location

to do from the back wall

simply because
of the camera angles.

The boxes obscure
the view of the camera.

The angle on the camera looks
as though it's not working.

The only way that they would
be able to actually do this,

because it has so much
security in the front,

they would actually
use heavy equipment.

And they would go
through the back wall

of this particular location.

They would go to the nearest
construction site.

And they would steal
whatever heavy equipment

that they could use.

You gonna try to breach
the wall right here

because it's gonna be
the easiest way

to get the equipment in.

Your four to five guys
will enter through the hole.

Each guy's gonna have five
to six weapons apiece.

And you're gone because by now,

the alarm's already sounding.
You've got a load.

And you've got to get out.
You got to be gone.

And it's being done
all over the country,

everywhere, all the time.

Bojorquez: 10 thieves rushed
inside this gun store,

smashed glass cases,

grabbed guns by the sack full,

all in under 2 minutes.

Federal officials say weapons
stolen in this type of burglary

will likely end up
on the black market

and could be used
in violent crimes.

Stone Mountain Red: I was
in one of the projects

right here in Atlanta.

We were about to make a trip
to New York.

And we were stopping
to purchase some cocaine

so that we could stay awake
while we were driving.

And, uh, we were robbed
by two kids,

two 9-year-olds with 9mm's
in my face trying to rob me.

That's when it really dawned
on me what I was doing.

I saw a lot of crime.
And who knows,

maybe my weapons
were part of those crimes.

And I didn't really intend
for it to be that way.

When you see needless death
and violence, then, you know,

a human being is gonna have some
type of feelings about that.

And I do.

Williams: Atlanta's the hub
for illegal gun runners

because there are
so many ways to get a gun.

What's good, fam?
Respect.

What's up, man?
Respect.

So what do you got
in the bag today?

Can you tell me
where you obtained these --

these weapons from?

Oh, so you buy
these guns legally?

Yeah.

So you got a connect

that goes
and buys the guns for you?

Now I got you.
Yeah.

Uh-huh.

What would be
the going price for a 9mm?

What do you
flip that for?

Has there ever been an incident
where these guns

were traced back
to the person who sold 'em?

Do you know anybody
that...

The dudes who I met in Atlanta,
man, they --

they didn't really care.

This is what it is.

This is what I do.

We buy and sell guns.

No glamour, no remorse,
just it is what it is.

You really can't
understand gun trafficking

unless you understand
our gun laws.

So we asked a local gun
enthusiast to show us

how he was able
to legally purchase guns

without a background check
from a private seller.

Man: You can really
just go online and find

so many listings
of private sellers.

This is a never-ending list.

This guy right here
really has a full package

of everything you need
for an AR-15.

It's fairly cheap also
for what -- what he's selling.

$1,400's really not bad.

This guy right here
has a Ruger for sale.

He's asking for $350.

You could probably even get
that a little bit cheaper.

[ Cellphone rings ]

All right. Thanks, man.
I appreciate it.

-Have a good one.
-You too.

Williams: And for years,
the most common place

for private sales
was at the gun show.

-Thank you.
-Thank you.

You have a great day.
-You too.

Williams:
It is crazy how many guns

and how many varieties
of guns are at a gun show.

Would you, uh,
be negotiable on this?

Now at this show,

about 80% of the booths
are all licensed.

But the other 20%
were private sellers.

Man:
This is a 380 Beretta.

So I got that
pretty simple and easy.

As long as I had cash,
I was good.

Like, you know, I could've been
a felon for all they know.

Williams: In January 2016,
President Obama issued

an executive order to shut down
the gun-show loophole.

Anybody in the business
of selling firearms

must get a license
and conduct background checks

or be subject
to criminal prosecutions.

Williams: And Obama, he's trying
to do something,

but some critics say the new law

might just push buyers
further underground.

You know, I'm not gonna lie.

In Atlanta, I felt a little --
a little uneasy.

What made me connect with Omar

is he actually was making
a moral statement.

He just chose the gun
to do it with.

Outside of that, man,
I'm comfortable with guns

as long as the bullets
are not real.

This dude is a gun runner.

And he's about to run
some guns up North.

[ Thunder rumbles ]

The guns will be worth
four times

what he paid for 'em
when he gets to New York.

Houser:
It's been my experience,

and I've been an agent
almost 27 years,

I think one of
the biggest challenges

in curtailing
firearms trafficking

is the fact
that you have 50 states.

And you almost have
50 different rules.

So there's no way to estimate
how many weapons

are crossing state
lines illegally.

You know, what we have are hard

and true statistics
of what has been recovered.

So we're getting the weapon.

And we're backtracking
the story to figure out

who is responsible
for trafficking it.

And it is a very, very long,
arduous process.

ATF's National
Tracing Center division

is the only facility
like it in the country.

Many people are
under the impression

that we just type
a gun's serial number

into a computer system

and it pops out
who bought the gun.

That's not the reality
of the situation.

There isn't any national
registry for firearms.

So consequently,
there is a process

that we have to go through
to isolate who the purchaser is.

Hi. This is Debbie with
ATF National Tracing Center.

I have a gun trace that I need
your assistance with, please.

Williams:
The system to track guns
used in crimes is outdated.

I'm looking
for a Glock 38 pistol.

And these ladies
are on the phone

trying to track down
all these different sellers.

To me, it seems crazy.

Have a good day.

Uh-huh, buh-bye.

Mulham: Currently there's more
than 10,000 boxes

in process here.

Once we cross
the 10,000-box mark,

GSA, who owns the building,
says the floor will collapse.

So we actually have seven
shipping containers

in the parking lot
in the back filled with records.

Right.

Williams:
The ATF has to scan,

sort and dig through
all these records

because Congress prohibits them

from creating
a searchable database.

This technology was old even
when I was in school.

So this roll of microfilm,

10,000 frames
of information, 10,000 pages.

Particular dealer, there might
be five dealers on this.

But if a guy's been
in business for say 20, 30 years

and sold a lot of guns,

why, this whole section

may be microfilm associated
with that dealer's records.

10, 20, 30, 40, 50,
60,000 pages

have to be reviewed
until you find the right gun.

I mean, I know it looks
a little bit primitive,

but that's how it works.

Houser:
That's -- that's the process.

That's -- that's what
the process was in 1989

when I started on this job.

And it's also what
the process is now.

But we can see geographic areas

that we know weapons are
funneling into our city from.

The data shows here in New York

that, uh, a large majority
of the weapons

that are being recovered
are coming from southern states.

Williams: This crew is waiting
for a shipment of guns

coming up from the South.

Man:
You know what I mean?

Braga: This is not a problem
just of New York.

This is, uh, a problem
across the country.

We talked to roughly about
130 gang members in Chicago.

The reasons why they want guns

is because it's an objectively
very risky environment.

And if you don't have a firearm,

the perception is that you
are at greater risk

of being victimized yourself.

And the tragedy is that carrying
a gun doesn't make you safer.

It makes you more likely to be
a target of violence.

'Sup, man?

Williams: This Chicago
gangbanger agreed to talk to me

about why he feels the need
to keep his crew strapped.

How easy is it
for you

to obtain
an illegal gun out here?

Real easy.

Everybody got a...
Yeah.

What's up.

You been on basically
buying and trading guns

for about 2 years
or so.

You sell 'em to your block?
Or do you...

Your sole purpose
of getting guns

is to make sure you
and your -- your boys

stay --
stay armed up.

When's the last time
you --

you -- you felt the need
to, uh, to strap up?

Basically.

You was in a gunfight
10 minutes ago

before we just spoke?

So...

So you think with all the hype
about gun violence,

with all the violence
and all the bloodshed...

You know what I mean?

How do you see the future
of what you doing?

After the interview was over,

he took off his mask.

And he looked me dead
in my eye and said,

"Please take me with you.

I do not want to die
on these streets.

I'm sick of this shit."

And I said, "You know,
what is the main reason

why y'all fight so much?

What -- what is the main thing
for the bloodshed out here?

Is it the gang life?

Is it the drug territory?"

He said, "Yes, that's it.

But the number-one thing
is just pussy and pride."

You know, you just -- you looked
at my girl the wrong way.

Or you know...what?

You look too much like me.
Bang bang.

And I just looked at him.

And my heart just
went out, you know.

And he's gone now.

3:00 in the afternoon,

murdered right there
on the street.

This shit is real h--

it's real, like, you know.

I spoke to this kid.

He told me he did not want
to die on these streets.

And that's exactly
what happened.

He died on those streets.

The people who are
illegally buying

and selling guns, you know,

these are people
who are on the streets.

They looking to
protect themselves.

You know, it's the life is cheap
on the streets policy.

I don't think that's gonna stop
no time soon unfortunately.