Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Background Checks: No Impact on Criminals

Friday, January 11, 2019

Background Checks: No Impact on Criminals

We have seen a generation of gun-grabbers rise and fall. The new generation of gun-grabbers are pushing for the same tired and baseless policies that won’t so much as inconvenience criminals. We understand the emotional response to violence and the desire to “do something.”

But that “something” has to be the right thing, a policy that will be effective on the target population and is backed by sound evidence. To design a policy that will stop criminals from getting guns, the first step should be to find out where criminals get guns.

Fortunately, the Bureau of Justice Statistics within the Office of Justice Programs at the Department of Justice just this week released a report that provides this very information. The report is the “Source and Use of Firearms Involved in Crimes: Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016” and its findings are quite clear.   

More than one in five prisoners in state or federal prisons (20.8%) possessed or used a firearm during their crime; 18.4% had or used a handgun.

A plurality – 43.2% - got their guns off the street or on the underground market which does not include gun shows, flea markets, or private sales. The underground market only includes “markets for stolen goods, middlemen for stolen goods, criminals or criminal enterprises, or individuals or groups involved in sales of illegal drugs.”

About ten percent (10.1%) acquired the gun from a retail source. This includes 8.2% whom acquired it from a licensed dealer at a retail source. Just under 7% bought the firearm under their own name and then at least 6.7% underwent a background check; we say “at least” because some number of prisoners are unaware if a check was conducted. The remaining 3.3% includes people who may not be aware they were submitted to a check because, for many people, the check is completed instantly. As you know, federal law requires firearms dealers to conduct background checks.

A quarter (25.3%) of prisoners acquired the firearm they had at the time of their crime from an individual; 14.5% of these bought, traded, borrowed, or rented the gun from a family member or friend. The other 10.8% were given the firearm as a gift or it was purchased for the prisoner.

That sounds like it likely includes straw purchases, which are a federal crime.

Theft was not uncommon, at 6.4%, though not as common as anti-gun organizations would have you believe.

The remaining 17.4% cited some other source; 6.9% found it at the scene of the crime or it was the victim’s, 4.6% say the gun was brought by someone else, and 5.9% from “other” sources. This last category is a catch-all, including sources that are different from all of the other sources listed in the report. It is important to note that none of the types of “other” sources had enough responses to warrant their own category.

In other words, there weren’t enough prisoners saying they bought a gun online or from a stranger to categorize these straw-man arguments into categories. Some quick, back of the envelope math shows that just under 5,200 prisoners surveyed reported having a gun during their criminal offense.

How would so-called universal background checks impact any of these categories?

First, you have to rule out the retail purchases because most already underwent a background check. You would also have to concede that those who obtained the firearm from a family member or friend wouldn’t be affected, because of the exemptions in so-called universal background checks laws for family members and… well, come on. If someone is going to give a known criminal a gun, then they’re not going to change their minds because of a law. It’s already a crime to knowingly give a gun to a prohibited person.

Sellers on the underground market aren’t going to start running background checks because they are, themselves, criminals. Burglars won’t stop burgling to get a background check run on the firearms they’re stealing.

Criminals who somehow manage find a gun at the scene of the crime through no action of their own wouldn’t be affected by a background check.

So, please, tell us: which source of firearms for criminals will dry up under so-called universal background checks?

Unless drug dealers and purveyors of stolen goods set up shop with clipboards, log books, and internet access to run background checks, criminals will still have a source of illegal guns.

Oh, and don’t forget that universal background checks don’t work.

IN THIS ARTICLE
crime Background checks
TRENDING NOW
Bye-Bye, Biden! Trump Inauguration Signals Sea Change on the Second Amendment

News  

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Bye-Bye, Biden! Trump Inauguration Signals Sea Change on the Second Amendment

Some elections are won and lost on narrow grounds. But on many of the most important issues of the day, Donald Trump’s policies promise not just to be different from, but the opposite of, Joe ...

Reported ATF Email Sparks Concerns of Braced Pistol Crackdown

News  

Monday, January 13, 2025

Reported ATF Email Sparks Concerns of Braced Pistol Crackdown

On Friday, Gun Owners of America published an email reportedly received by one of its members in response to a question to ATF about whether adding a brace to a CZ Scorpion pistol would convert ...

Will the DNC go Hogg Wild?

News  

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Will the DNC go Hogg Wild?

We haven’t written much about one of America’s most irksome or notorious or galling  gun-ban extremists, David Hogg, in quite some time.  

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Scheduled for Public Committee Hearing

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Scheduled for Public Committee Hearing

On Tuesday, January 28th, the Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee will have a public hearing for Senate Bill 25-003, the all-encompassing ban on semi-automatic firearms.

Washington: Ammo Tax Added to Tuesday’s Onslaught of Anti-Gun Bills

Saturday, January 18, 2025

Washington: Ammo Tax Added to Tuesday’s Onslaught of Anti-Gun Bills

This coming Tuesday is going to be a critical day for law-abiding gun owners across Washington, with three separate hearings scheduled to review anti-gun legislation. 

ATF (Sort of) Walks Back Braced Pistol Comments

News  

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

ATF (Sort of) Walks Back Braced Pistol Comments

Last week, we reported that an unnamed ATF official, speaking for the agency’s Firearms Industry Programs Branch (FIPB), counseled a gun owner via ATF’s official email that ATF considers all pistols equipped with stabilizing braces ...

Good News, Bad News on ATF Director Dettelbach

News  

Monday, January 6, 2025

Good News, Bad News on ATF Director Dettelbach

It’s really just good news to report that Joe Biden’s director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Steven Dettelbach, has announced his resignation.  

Michigan: Governor Whitmer Signs Anti-Gun Bill Packages

Friday, January 24, 2025

Michigan: Governor Whitmer Signs Anti-Gun Bill Packages

Earlier this month, we reported that Governor Whitmer had two anti-gun packages awaiting her signature from the 2024 legislative session. On January 22, Governor Whitmer signed both bill packages, and they will now become Michigan ...

Virginia: Anti-Gun Bills Advance to Senate Floor

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Virginia: Anti-Gun Bills Advance to Senate Floor

Anti-gun legislators continue their crusade against Virginia gun owners. 

NYC’s Subway System: Sensitive Place? No. Senseless Violence? Yes.

News  

Monday, January 13, 2025

NYC’s Subway System: Sensitive Place? No. Senseless Violence? Yes.

In the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller U.S. Supreme Court decision, Justice Antonin Scalia contemplated potential location restrictions governments could impose on the exercise of Second Amendment rights.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.