Well, they finally did it. The Washington Post published the raw data upon which their year-long “crime gun” series is based. Sorry. I mean, the data collected during their year-long investigation upon which their “crime gun” series is based. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence did the no-brainer thing, extracting the raw stats from the long-form article, that includes protestations from the dealers “named and shamed.” And here they are from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (and Really Big Fires) “crime gun” trace data: “The Top 10 Crime Gun Dealers in America” as rated by ATF firearms traces over the last four years . . .
Vance Outdoors, Columbus, Ohio – 2,390 traces
Hyatt Coin and Gun, Charlotte – 2,055 traces
Dons Guns and Galleries, Indianapolis – 1,910 traces
Guns and Ammo, Memphis – 1,865 traces
Arrowhead Pawn, Jonesboro, Georgia – 1,720 traces
Badger Guns, W. Milwaukee, Wisconsin – 1,700 traces
Trader Sports, San Leandro, California – 1,605 traces
Lone Wolf Trading Co, Glendale, Arizona – 1,515 traces
Candler Road Pawn Shop, Decatur, Georgia – 1,325 traces
Shooters of Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Florida – 1,320 traces
The Brady Campaign has a few explanatory caveats:
The actual number of crime guns sold by these shops is likely much higher, as many guns are never recovered or successfully traced back to the gun shop that sold them. This list shows the number of crime guns traced back to these gun stores in the last four years. Only 1% of the nation’s gun dealers supply more than 57% of guns recovered in crime and in a given year about 89% of licensed gun dealers have no traces.
ATF has defined a crime gun as “any firearm that is illegally possessed, used in a crime, or suspected to have been used in a crime.”
Suspected to have been used in a crime means what, exactly? I’m thinking it means any gun that was recovered from a criminal, who must have been a criminal because they were in possession of an illegal gun. What’s still missing: any sort of context. Other than this is a bad, bad thing that could be stopped by the ATF if the NRA and its pals hadn’t emasculated the $1 billion plus agency. Allegedly.
I wouldn’t trust any data collected or presented by the Brady Campaign. It is an organization with a clear bias against firearms and the second amendment.
Its entire agenda is based on banning Americans from owning firearms period.
The data seems sound. It’s the analysis that needs work.
I love Vance’s! I’d be amused to see the percent of their sales that is made of “crime guns” and compare it to the percent of their sales that is made of sale to police officers and service members. I bought my first pistol there! that place is great!
I would look into the location of these gun stores. I’m from Phoenix and Glendale and the west side has a slightly worse reputation in so far as crime goes. If these gun stores are in some of the meaner parts of town, then it is likely that it has less to do with the store and more to do with the surrounding community. If you are in a area that is not as prosperous, then it would seem that you would have more gun traces due to the generally higher rates of crime. The 89% percent stat strikes me as showing firearms and gun owners in a positive light. Apparently, roughly 90% of dealers don’t sell a firearm that interacts with law enforcement in any significant way.
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