CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – The U.S. attorney for New Hampshire is firing back against charges that lax gun control laws in northern New England are partly responsible for an increase in gun crimes in Boston.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Colantuono told Foster’s Sunday Citizen that’s an “urban myth” that doesn’t stand up to the facts.

Data collected by the federal “Project Safe Neighborhoods” show that most of the guns used in Massachusetts crimes come from within that state, Colantuono said. The data also show that fewer than 10 percent of the guns used in Massachusetts crimes come from New Hampshire; instead, Georgia is the top source of out-of-state guns.

Also, many of the guns traced back to New Hampshire were sold several years ago, belying Boston officials’ claims that New Hampshire guns are contributing to a recent surge in shootings and other gun crimes, he said.

Boston officials recently reported that the number of guns they had seized was up 34 percent and the number of gun-related arrests increased 39 percent through early November, compared to the same period a year earlier.

A Boston Police spokesman, Sgt. Thomas Sexton, said stricter gun laws in northern New England would help solve the problem. Massachusetts requires residents to pay $100 for a state permit when buying any gun; New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont do not require state permits.

While some guns used in Massachusetts crimes still come from the South and the West Coast, city police are finding more guns “coming from a lot closer to home,” Sexton said.

Sam Cohen, a director of Gun Owners of New Hampshire, the state chapter of the National Rifle Association, said New Hampshire’s laws are strict enough already.

Gun dealers must follow the gun laws of a buyer’s home state, and dealers at both gun stores and gun shows must perform background checks on their customers, he said.

Ralph Demicco, co-owner of Riley’s Sport Shop in Hooksett, said federal law forbids people from buying handguns outside their home states, although that doesn’t apply to rifles. Gun dealers also are trained to look out for “straw purchases” by state residents who buy large numbers of guns, then resell them, he said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston last year charged Michael Fowler, 34, of Lynn, Mass., with gun trafficking, saying he bought 24 guns – 18 in Maine and six in New Hampshire – from legal gun owners who advertised in local publications. He was accused of reselling them for profit in Massachusetts.

Agent Jim McNally, of the Boston office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said agency policy prohibits disclosure of the number of weapons seized in southern New England states that were traced to New Hampshire, Maine or Vermont.

Wall said it would be helpful if northern New England gun sellers were required to file detailed sales documents with the gun’s serial number. But he realizes it will be difficult to get stricter laws.

“I don’t think anybody wants to rattle this cage,” he said.

Gov. John Lynch “does not believe we need any changes in our gun laws in New Hampshire,” but would be willing to talk with Massachusetts officials and federal agents about better enforcement, said his spokeswoman, Pamela Walsh.

Sexton said Boston Police don’t believe there’s any magic bullet that will solve the problem.

“We’re not trying to point the finger at anybody,” he said. “We’re trying to stem firearms violence in the city of Boston.”

AP-ES-12-18-05 1301EST