Headline: ATF study - Criminals use stolen guns

by Chad D. Baus

You won't hear this mentioned in all the anti-gun media discussions about enforcing "universal" background checks, but research by the ATF demonstrates why these checks will never stop criminals, no matter how many checks are enforced on law-abiding citizens.

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

The majority of guns used by inner-city gang members in Chattanooga come from burglaries and car break-ins in surrounding counties, the lead local ATF agent said.

Darryl Hill, resident agent-in-charge for the Chattanooga office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said Monday that two of his agents studied a portion of guns used in crimes and seized by Chattanooga police from January 2012 to January 2013.

Although Hill did not have detailed numbers, he said police collect an average of 600 weapons used in crimes each year, a figure that's remained steady for the seven years he's worked here.

The review of traced firearms arose after Hill said he fielded lots of questions about how gang members, many with criminal records, get guns.

It is illegal for most convicted felons to possess a firearm.

Some of the weapons reviewed were purchased at gun shows in what are called "straw buys"...

...but most of the weapons traced in the review were stolen from legal gun owners, Hill said.

Note that every bit of the behavior described by this ATF agent is already illegal. It is illegal for a felon to purchase or possess a gun. It is illegal for anyone to conduct a straw purchase. And of course it is illegal to steal a gun.

The bottom line is, no amount of new laws are going to stop people who care nothing about breaking the law. And the ATF knows it. But as the article notes, that study has only been made public because prosecutor Chris Poole and U.S. District Judge Harry S. "Sandy" Mattice discussed it in federal court during a sentencing hearing for five of six men who pleaded guilty to federal firearms charges.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.