A Department of Justice report shows that only seven percent of nearly 300,000 state and federal prisoners who possessed a firearm during their crime purchased the gun from a licensed firearm dealer.
About 13 percent of state and federal prisoners surveyed used a gun during their crime, and of those prisoners, only 1.3 percent obtained it from a retail source.
The survey also revealed that only 0.8 percent of prisoners who possessed a gun during their offense got the firearm from a gun show, a statistic which shows that “gun show loopholes” often decried by gun control advocates are not contributing significantly to crime.
This information undercuts Democrat claims that expanding background checks will keep us safer. Politico quoted Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) saying universal background check legislation “will help save lives.” But how will it save lives if less than three percent of criminals acquire their guns at retail or gun show while the vast majority steal or otherwise acquire them on the side?
The report estimates that 287,400 prisoners had a gun on them when they committed the crime for which they are imprisoned, and a majority of those prisoners either stole the gun, found it at the scene of the crime, or bought it off the street or from the underground market, according to the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates.
Kearn SCHEMM says
Good solid facts – but do the gun controllers care about facts or just about their desire to controll others???
Sam Anders says
Ok, I’ll bite.
25% of Americans own guns. The average gun owner has 3 or 4. So fewer than 3% of all gun owners own roughly half of all guns. Of that group, some gun enthusiasts own seventeen guns apiece. This means that people are getting their stolen guns from people that already have guns. if you had a gun stolen and it is used in a crime, a gun owner should be liable for what is done with that weapon.
If criminals are getting guns from retail stores or gun shows maybe they are getting them from other people, so it should be a crime to transfer a gun to someone that is prohibited from owning one. Oh sorry, the Governor tried that.
So all you good people, what exactly do you think should be done to keep guns out of the hands of people that should not have them?
This “article” takes a survey from criminals and we are supposed to give it credence?
Stuart Bell says
Want to create a gun-free America in 5 easy steps?
Here’s all there is to it:
Step 1: Elect. For a gun-free America, the first thing you’ll need is two-thirds of Congress. So elect a minimum of 67 Senators and 290 Representatives who are on your side.
Step 2: Propose. Then, have them vote to propose an amendment to the Constitution which repeals Second Amendment gun rights for all Americans.
Step 3: Ratify. Then convince the legislators of 38 states to ratify that change.
At this point, the Second Amendment is history, but you’ve done nothing to decrease gun violence. All you’ve done is remove the barrier for Congress to act.
Step 4: Legislate. You need to enact “common sense” reform.
You can try to do what Australia did and…ban all guns? That’s not at all what they did, but whatever, fuck it. Go big or go home, right?
It will have to be passed by Congress and signed by the president.
Great! The law is passed and guns are now illegal. The only thing left to do is…
Step 5: Enforce. Guns won’t just disappear because you passed a law. You need to confiscate some 350 million guns scattered among 330 Million Americans.
Sure, you can try a buy-back program like Australia, but like Australia that will still leave behind anywhere from 60 percent to 80 percent of privately owned firearms.
The rest you have to take.
You’ll need the police, the FBI, the ATF or the National Guard—all known for their nuanced approach to potentially dangerous situations—to go door-to-door, through 3.8 million square miles of this country and take guns, by force, from thousands, if not, millions of well-armed individuals. Many of whom would rather start a civil war than acquiesce.
So inevitably gun violence, which is currently at a historic low, will skyrocket.
But that is how you get a gun-free America in five easy steps.
(For more in that vein, read this piece by Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review.)
Produced by Austin Bragg.
Mike Kuzma, Jr. says
OK, Sam I’ll bite back.
Liability for stolen weapons? Sure, as soon as you allow liability for stolen vehicles causing issues. Gee, maybe we should blame the CRIMINAL for their actions?
Um, a straw transfer is already a FEDERAL crime, as well as a state crime. Please explain how printing the same words twice will stop CRIMINALS?
Here’s a tip……you can’t stop someone from committing crimes if they have chosen a LIFE OF CRIME.
More people are killed from blunt force trauma than guns. How ya gonna keep hammers out of criminals hands?
And once again, please explain how keeping law abiding citizens from exercising their rights that ACTUALLY ARE WRITTEN IN THE CONSTITUTION is going to keep criminals from their CHOSEN path?
I’ll even leave you a suggestion for dealing with severely mentally disturbed people……….REOPEN THE ASYLUMS.
Paul Plante says
How many illegal weapons did Hussein Obama and Eric Himpton Holder Jr. and the federal government put into the hands of criminals with their gun-running operation?
During their “Fast and Furious” gun-running operation investigation, nearly 2,000 firearms were illegally purchased for $1.5 million, according to a DOJ inspector General report.
So much for the federal government keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.