A Dallas man is facing federal gun trafficking charges after being accused of buying and selling guns illegally, including one that was reportedly used in a killing in another Texas city last year, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reports. The U.S. Justice Department said 31-year-old Demontre Antwon Hackworth avoided federal background check measures by using his Texas license-to-carry to purchase weapons which he later sold illegally. Hackworth bought more than 90 guns - primarily handguns - before reselling them without a federal firearms license or conducting background checks.
Investigators recovered 16 guns Hackworth allegedly purchased that were connected to crimes in Texas, Maryland and Canada. A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' (ATF) analysis showed that the firearms were linked to multiple shootings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. One of the weapons was used in the killing of Kier Solomon, a 21-year-old Black transgender woman from Dallas who was found in her car shot in the chest. "Illegal firearms trafficking is not a victimless crime," said ATF agent Jeff Boshek. Attorney General Merrick Garland said, "We are cracking down on the criminal gun-trafficking pipelines that flood our communities with illegal guns. ... We have set up strike forces to disrupt those networks from start to finish." Hackworth was arrested Friday for dealing in firearms without a license and making false statements during the purchase of a firearm.