In response to a survey questionnaire sent to 37 of America's largest police departments, 100 percent of the respondents reported problems with their gun crime rate, and 70 percent said gun trafficking is a problem. This report compares the random and strategic approaches to interdicting criminal trafficking in firearms and suppressing firearms-related violence. The strategic approach treats gun trafficking, gun crimes and gun offenders as potentially related parts of a bigger picture; focuses on communities' specific gun problems; and brings to bear on the problem all the resources the community can gather. The random approach, which is generally less successful, treats each crime that involves a gun as a separate, independent event, investigated and prosecuted primarily as a self-contained package. The report also discusses: (1) why a strategy is necessary; (2) how to create a strategy; (3) the role of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and (4) case studies in seven cities and one county. Notes, appendixes