DOJ Report: Criminals Use Guns That Are Obtained Illegally

The DOJ has released a new report indicating how guns were obtained by criminals who used them. The data comes from a 2016 survey of both state and federal prisons.
One big highlight in the report shows that 90% of all guns used in crimes were NOT purchased legally:

Among prisoners who possessed a gun during their offense, 90% did not obtain it from a retail source.

And of those prisoners who did purchase their guns legally, less than one percent came from a gun show:

Among prisoners who possessed a firearm during their offense, 0.8% obtained it at a gun show.

But wait, I thought gun shows were bad? Hasn’t the DOJ ever heard of the ‘gun show loophole’???
So only 10% of prisoners purchased their guns legally. Let that sink in for a moment.

Of that 90% that did not purchase a gun from a store, over half of them were stolen or purchased illegally:

Among these, more than half (56%) had either stolen it (6%), found it at the scene of the crime (7%), or obtained it of the street or from the underground market (43%). Most of the remainder (25%) had obtained it from a family member or friend, or as a gift. Seven percent had purchased it under their own name from a licensed firearm dealer.

In case that wording makes your head spin, let me break it down for you this way:

• 43% purchased their guns off the street or from the underground market
• 6.4% stole them
• 7% found a gun at the scene of the crime

As they point out, 25% got their guns from a family member, friend, or as a gift.

So the big takeaway is that more gun control laws would do very little to stop gun violence, which is supposed to be their point. The only thing gun control laws really do is restrict or punish law abiding citizens.

Here’s the full chart with all the data: