Joshua Rosenau spends his days defending the teaching of evolution at 
Thanks to Kansas Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-Wichita), ATF data on guns used in crimes were not available to policymakers or law enforcement. That provision was repealed, and a report by an association of mayors finds that:
States with lax gun laws had higher rates of handgun killings, fatal shootings of police officers, and sales of weapons that were used in crimes in other states ... 10 states, including Virginia, supplied 57 percent of the guns that were recovered in crimes in other states in 2007. ...The study, which will be released this month, found:
· The 10 states with the highest crime-gun export rates had nearly 60 percent more gun homicides than the 10 states with the lowest rates. The high-export states also had nearly three times as many fatal shootings of police officers.
· States requiring background checks for handgun sales at gun shows have an export rate nearly half the national average. None of the 10 highest export states, including Virginia, requires the checks, according to the report. Maryland does.
· States requiring gun buyers to get a purchase permit have a lower export rate. Gun owners in Maryland and Virginia are not required to have purchase permits.
· States requiring gun owners to report their weapons lost or stolen to law enforcement authorities export crime guns at less than one-third the rate of states that do not mandate reporting. Seven states have such a requirement; Maryland and Virginia do not.
These problems can largely be resolved using existing laws, but requiring background checks at gun shows would clearly be a good way to reduce the traffic in illegal (or illegally used) firearms. Similarly, requiring the reporting of lost and stolen guns looks like a good way to limit illegal trade in firearms. The guns used in the study are those recovered after being used in crimes, and most were stolen, purchased through intermediaries at gun shows, or bought on behalf of criminals by a "straw purchaser," who buys the gun and transfers it to the criminal.
As the Post notes:
To increase oversight of gun dealers, nearly two dozen states, including Maryland and Virginia, as well as the District, allow or require state inspections. In those that do not, crime guns are exported at a rate 50 percent higher than in states that allow or mandate inspections.States that are sources for illegally used firearms clearly need to tighten up their state laws, as they are leaving loopholes that are destroying inner cities across the country. Given the clear interstate nature of this traffic, Congress would be entitled to act, but the problem could be solved through state action, and doing so would be a better solution."Leaving it up to federal law and ATF is insufficient to really hold gun dealers accountable," [Daniel]Webster [co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore] said.
Politics
Comments
Here's more on that report. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/05/national/a164206S55.DTL&feed=rss.news
West Virginia is the top exporter, per capita, of illegal guns, with 41 traced guns per 100,000 state residents, followed by Mississippi, at 39 guns per 100,000, and South Carolina, at 31. The average national rate is 11 exported guns. Kentucky, Alabama, Virginia, Georgia, Indiana, Nevada, and North Carolina round out the top 10 exporting states, per capita, reads the report, titled "The Movement of Illegal Guns In America: The Link between Gun Laws and Interstate Trafficking."
"It's not our lax gun laws. It's our high crime rate that causes the problems," said the Laurens Republican, a retired police officer and a National Assembly of Sportsmen's Caucuses committee member. "What's happening is people break into my home, steal my guns and get a premium price by taking it to other states and selling them."
"Clearly, a small number of states are contributing to a very dangerous national problem," said Mark LaVorgna. "The lack of effort in some states is causing gun crimes in other states that have strong laws."
So herein is the question. Is it the high crime rate which spurs the gun sales or does the availability of guns help cause the crime rate? One suspects some of both, but I don't know of any studies which can enumerate such.
Posted by: Phil | December 6, 2008 2:04 AM