"As long as illegal guns are out there, no one is safe." --Pete Anderson, St. Croix Police Intelligence Unit

"Unless we have complete inspections at our points of entry, we can never expect to stop illegal weapons from coming in." --Chief Delroy Richards, Virgin Islands Police Department

"I don't believe we can institute an inspection of all baggage any more than the state of New York could put travelers from Florida through a Customs check." --Joel Holt, St. Croix attorney

• The Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau, the federal agency responsible for monitoring the gun trade, has not had an agent stationed in the territory since August.
• Since 1989, 50 people in the Virgin Islands have been shot and killed by convicted felons -- who are banned by federal law from carrying guns.
• Since 1989, juveniles have been involved in more than a hundred shootings in the territory, 22 of them fatal.
• The three major sources for illegal guns in the Virgin Islands are, in order: Florida, Texas and Louisiana.
• The territory has 52 gun dealers with federal licenses, but only six are not under investigation or facing charges for violating federal and local gun laws.
• Two V.I. police officers are suspected of operating a gun-selling business while on duty in the police station. They are under investigation, law enforcement officials say.
• Two licensed dealers openly sell guns from the back of their cars. One of those has been seen in housing projects delivering weapons.
• Among the 49 guns that Christopher Monbelly and Nigel Crosby illegally brought into the territory in their airline luggage last summer and fall, 10 have already been found at the scenes of crimes.