Op-Ed: New Study- Criminals Prefer Handguns, Not “Assault Weapons”

Thugs prefer handguns over any type of rifle, shotgun or other “long gun.”

Go figure.

According to a study published on June 16, 2014, the vast majority of guns seized from gang members, felons and drug traffickers were handguns, not fully-automatic rifles, nor even the semi-automatic modern sporting rifles deliberately mislabeled as “assault weapons” by the gun ban lobby.

Why? For decades criminologists have known the answer. They found that street crime is best performed with small firearms that can easily be hidden and disposed of. That’s what makes handguns the favorite of criminals.

This is not a new revelation. In fact, it’s old news, reconfirmed anew by the latest edition of the Small Arms Survey. The survey analyzed 10,435 firearms seized by police. In Los Angeles, 92% of gang crime guns were handguns. And most – 90% – we run-of-the-mill revolvers and pistols–the kind many Americans keep in their night stand to defend their families. Houston, Texas was on the other end of the range with 79% of gang guns being handguns, and 11% being rifles.

Significantly, nearly none were of the firearms criminals chose were machine guns, nor modern semi-action sporting rifles. During the 10 year study, Houston only recovered two such weapons, accounting for an underwhelming 0.3% of all the gang guns that police recovered. Los Angeles had none.

The Geneva-based research project’s findings stand in stark contrast to what Hollywood producers often dramatically but inaccurately depict, and D.C. politicians often rhetorically claim.

Click here to read the entire op-ed at CalGunLaws.com.