A handful of states with weak gun laws are the largest contributors to the U.S. market for illegally trafficked guns. That's the alarming finding of the new report "Trace the Guns: The Link Between Gun Laws and Interstate Gun Trafficking," a groundbreaking report issued today by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of more than 500 mayors that I co-chair with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
"Trace the Guns" examines troves of new data released to Mayors Against Illegal Guns by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and for the first time demonstrates the connection between laws designed to deter illegal trafficking and lower crime gun export rates.
Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alaska, Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Nevada, and Georgia were the ten states that supplied crime guns at the highest rates - each of them supplying guns used in crimes at a rate more than twice the national average.
Not only do they supply a disproportionate amount of crime guns, but these states are also more likely to be the source of guns recovered in crimes within two years of the original sale, which the ATF says is a key sign of illegal trafficking.
See for yourself: read the report and see where guns are coming from in your state on the interactive website: TraceTheGuns.org.
The stakes are high: 12,000 people per year are murdered with guns in the United States. If one state ignores a gap in its laws, other states have to deal with the deadly consequences.
There is urgent work to be done by policy makers at all levels to strengthen enforcement of the laws we have on the books, and to close gaps in state and federal law. For example, the Gun Show Loophole enables people with criminal records to avoid FBI background checks if they buy a gun from an unlicensed "private seller." Today's report shows that states where this loophole is open export crime guns at two-and-a-half times the rate of states that have closed it. The ATF has long identified gun shows as a leading source for traffickers, and while we didn't need any more proof that legislators should put a stop to this end-run around background checks, we now have it.
"Trace the Guns" should serve as a clear roadmap for how we can more effectively fight illegal gun trafficking, support police, and protect public safety - and mayors around the country will be urging lawmakers in state capitols and in Washington, DC to take action.
Join us. And to see how your state stacks up, visit TraceTheGuns.org.
Follow Michael R. Bloomberg on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NYCMayorsOffice
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5214a2.htm
Department of Justice on Guns for Protection
http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/165476.pdf
Heller Opinion (Individual Right vs Militia) It's a fundamental individual right...
http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/07-290.pdf
McDonald Opinion (2A Applies to the States)
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1521.pdf
You can deal with the "slaughter" all you want. You just can't infringe a fundamental right as you do so.
Your claim that a mere 80 thousand was a ridiculaously high number is so far off, that I hardly have the words.
This, and your lack of understanding of the 2nd Amendment, the opinion of Congress, and the opinion of the people of this country, lead me to believe that you just swallow everything you read from the gun banners, without question.
http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-miscellaneous/4462715-1.html
Do you have any evidence to support your 80,000 claim? I'm sure you'll provide it soon.
It's your body, it's the only one you will ever have, on Earth anyways. You can pierce it, ink it, sky dive with it, swim with sharks, etc., etc. As long as you are not directly placing others at risk it's your own business. Heck, you can even legally chain smoke in your own home with your minor children, and that's certainly putting innocent minors at risk from second hand smoke.
It sounds as though you got that from a bumper sticker, and put zero thought into it.
Inner-city gang activity, and the drug trade are killing "our kids". When firearms are involved, they are stolen firearms obtained on the black market. Economists have nothing to do with it.
Also, there are about 80,000,000 gun owners in the US. Legal ones. That's almost half of the adult population.
Be careful who you call a "minority".
http://www.joycefdn.org/content.cfm/grant-list?rr=1&quicksearch=1
In the year or so you have been here, you have 'overused' mindless snark to the point that you have been banned so many times, we have to store your usernames just to keep a rough count.
So, how about an intelligent, semi-thought out response for a change?
Do you have a logical reason (excuse) why the entire anti-gun movement, especially the Brady Campaign, has, as it's only resourse for "research", NOTHING that is not funded by the same organization, over and over and over again?
Suppose 1 in 10 "illegal" guns is used to commit a crime in the course of a year. That's probably ten times or more the actual probability but lacking statistics we'll err on the side of caution. So for every ten "illegal" guns seized one crime will be prevented per year.
We know that the number of persons victimized for every ten crimes against them by violent criminals is, quite naturally, ten. So taking ten violent criminals off the streets will prevent ten crimes per year, assuming that is that they only victimize one person per year.
So targeting the violent criminal is ten times more effective in reducing crime than targeting guns would be.
Furthermore, the places you list that have a liberal attitude toward civilian empowerment also have lower crime rates than the dictatorships with "strong" gun laws.
I know this correction will fall on deaf ears, logic not being part of your agenda.
The UK is especially bad. It's the most dangerous country in Western Europe. Notice, guffman, how the violent crime rate in the UK took off like a rocket, immediately after they banned guns in '97.
http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/B/E/6/%7BBE6AB1F6-642D-448E-9DF4-E1F036BC02F4%7Dcfi115.pdf
There were 466 slayings in 2009, down from 523 in 2008 and below the previous record low of 496 in 2007, according to records through December.
Not exactly an over whelming reduction, which no one but you is attributing to the restrictive gun control in NY. But it is irrelevant as you have discounted any information but your own opinion and you have already shown your fear of fire arms prejudices your opinion.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has credited Operation Impact, which floods high-crime areas with rookie officers, as a major factor in making the streets safer.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/01/06/2010-01-06_2009_ho¬micides_fe¬west_since¬_63.html#ixzz11MUNBs4S
A very expensive but effective way to control crime is a police presents. Unfortunately this method is not used very many places, I have been advocating it as long as I can remember. Get the police out of the cars and walk the beat where it is needed.
It is interesting to note that the states that export the most guns according to this article or I have to assume the most guns in the hands of its people are the states with the least number of gun related homicides. But then you would see no correlation there would you?
http://www.tracetheguns.org/
Address for gun related homicides.
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/cri_gun_vio_num_of_hom-crime-gun-violence-number-homicides
The same can be said about guns.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/09/13/canada-nra-gun-registry.html
"The National Rifle Association, a powerful lobbying group in the United States that advocates fewer gun controls, has been actively involved in trying to abolish Canada's long-gun registry for more than a decade, CBC News has learned.
Documents and correspondence obtained by the CBC show the NRA has provided logistical and tactical support to organizations such as the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action (CILA), established in 1998 to lobby Ottawa to shut down the registry."
cont... click link above to read more.