The FBI released its gang assessment in October saying that of the 1.4 million gang members in the U.S., many are in the American military.

The High Desert Daily Press, located near Fort Irwin, Ca. follows the FBI report up with an investigation of its own, finding gangs are getting ahold of high powered military weapons and munitions far more often than previously thought (via Military.com).

Their story lists several cases where munitions may have been funneled by military gang members and civilian employees at military bases to California street gangs.

  • 27 AK-47s were stolen from a Fort Irwin warehouse and officials close to the case believe gang members were responsible.
  • In November a gang member and his wife were arrested in Victor Valley, Ca. with several weapons in their home including a live artillery round in their garage.
  • Another, similar, round was confiscated in April this year in the nearby town of Apple Valley and when detonated in the Mojave Desert, left a six-foot crater in the ground.
  • Three former Marines were arrested in November 2010 in L.A. for selling assault weapons to gang Florencia 13.
  • Also in November 2010, a Navy SEAL from San Diego smuggled 18 military machine guns from Iraq and Afghanistan to buyers in New Mexico.

The FBI report mentions gang members are acquiring rifles, grenades, artillery rounds, and body armor.

Former Marine and previous gang member T.J. Heyden told the Daily Press that none of this surprises him.

“It’s a lot harder to get firearms and rifles off a base but artillery rounds aren’t that difficult,” he said, pointing out firearms are counted three times a day, but it's much harder to account for artillery shells.

“It’s easy to say you fired 10 rounds when you only actually fired eight or six.”