COLUMBIA, S.C. - The number of gun cases referred to federal prosecutors in South Carolina has increased from a few dozen five years ago to several hundred.

Cases handled by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives resulted in 116 convictions, twice as many as in 1998.

"When someone with multiple violent convictions is sentenced to a substantial amount of time in federal prison, the community has to be safer," said Strom Thurmond Jr., the U.S. attorney for South Carolina.

Pat Dumais, agent in charge for the ATF offices in Columbia and Florence, has eight agents in Columbia, up from four when he took the job four years ago.

There also are offices in Charleston and Greenville.

The majority of South Carolina's manpower goes for gun cases, Dumais said. But agents to focus on arms trafficking and explosives cases, as well, he said.

The result is that about 30 ATF agents in South Carolina referred 426 cases to Thurmond's office last year. That compares with 78 cases in 1998.

"The system we have in place is capturing a lot of them," Dumais said.

Information from: The State