First sweeping federal gun crime report in 20 years shows firearms bought legally are being used in crimes more quickly

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  • Kurr

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    The most expansive federal report in over two decades on guns and crime shows a shrinking turnaround between the time a gun was purchased and when it was recovered from a crime scene, indicating firearms bought legally are more quickly being used in crimes around the country.

    It also documents a spike in the use of conversion devices that make a semiautomatic gun fire like a machine gun, along with the growing seizure of so-called ghost guns, privately made firearms that are hard to trace.

    The report shows 54% of guns that police recovered in crime scenes in 2021 had been purchased within three years, a double-digit increase since 2019. The quicker turnaround can indicate illegal gun trafficking or a straw purchase

    It also found what Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco called an epidemic of stolen guns: more than 1.07 million firearms were reported stolen between 2017 and 2021. Almost all of those, 96%, were from private individuals.

    Meanwhile, the report also documents a more than five-fold increase in the number of devices that convert a legal semi-automatic weapon into an illegal fully automatic one. Between 2012 and 2016, the ATF retrieved 814 of those, but that number jumped to 5,414 during the five-year period documented in the report.

    The ATF traced more than 19,000 privately made firearms in 2021, more than double the year before. That jump is the result in part of the agency encouraging police to send it the weapons so they can be traced, even though they typically haven’t yielded as much information as typical firearms. The weapons do have unique ballistics and other characteristics that can be useful to investigators.

    Edit to Add: Some gold in the comment section!!
     
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    I read the first 26 comments. Not a single pro-gun control statement. Every single one I read lambasted the fed's report. Most with solid arguments and detailed flaws in the data pointed to. On a Yahoo page none the less. Aren't all guns legal when they're fist purchased? From comment section:

    Just think of the stupidity in this statement... firearms bought legally are being used in crimes more quickly.. Do they actually have a database that tracks the guns bought illegally?
     

    gassprint1

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    This is not by accident

    Here comes the push for waiting periods again.
    That part already happens from age 18 to 21, so wouldn't surprise me if it does go back to the way handgun purchases were done years back and probably any type of firearm for that matter.
     

    Twangbanger

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    If I get shot, sure hope it's with a gun purchased >3 years ago.

    When they gather dust in grampaw's safe for a while, I hear those kind blow your lungs out less badder :nailbite:
     
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    Jaybird1980

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    That part already happens from age 18 to 21, so wouldn't surprise me if it does go back to the way handgun purchases were done years back and probably any type of firearm for that matter.
    It was all firearms during the Clinton debacle.

    I could see them trying to go for longer period
    this time
     

    snorko

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    Growing use of "conversion devices" and "ghost guns", Sure, 5-10 years ago much of this did not exist.

    Shortening time from legal purchase to illegal use: I would surmise that this is due in large part to the many first time buyers and their lack of knowledge securing their firearms. This is speculative sure, but long time gun owners tend to have safes and such.
     

    gassprint1

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    That's a really good point.

    On me or under lock and key. It isn't a perfect defense against theft but goes a long way.
    I think i probably fell into the secured firewrm group years ago. It was..i don't need to spend money on a safe cause i only have a couple items. Well, after tripling those items an such..i had to have something, plus i didn't trust others around here to get easy access to my stuff. Luckily, i never had an issue with breakins or my daughter that was taught about firearms at an early age.
     
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    I think i probably fell into the secured firewrm group years ago. It was..i don't need to spend money on a safe cause i only have a couple items. Well, after tripling those items an such..i had to have something, plus i didn't trust others around here to get easy access to my stuff. Luckily, i never had an issue with breakins or my daughter that was taught about firearms at an early age.
    Ditto, pretty much. I suppose if I were childless and lived alone I might leave a pistol on the nightstand, or such. But with a wife and kids, on me or under lock and key became my mantra.
     

    gassprint1

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    Ditto, pretty much. I suppose if I were childless and lived alone I might leave a pistol on the nightstand, or such. But with a wife and kids, on me or under lock and key became my mantra.
    1 of the biggest things for me before when i did want safe was the fact that if law enforcement came knicking on my door for whatever reason, which years back was the wrong damn address and name on the warrant, everything locked in the safe is off limits or snything with a lock period is off limits requiring another warrant.
     

    Timjoebillybob

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    1 of the biggest things for me before when i did want safe was the fact that if law enforcement came knicking on my door for whatever reason, which years back was the wrong damn address and name on the warrant, everything locked in the safe is off limits or snything with a lock period is off limits requiring another warrant.
    I'm going to need a cite on that. To the best of my knowledge if they have a warrant to search the property and what they are searching for can logically be in an area it doesn't matter if it's locked or not. They can break out a torch if they wish and cut into the safe. If the warrant is for a stolen vehicle, it can't logically be in a 2 cu ft safe so no go. If you had giant monstrous safe with a door big enough to drive the vehicle through... No additional warrant needed.
     

    Denny347

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    I'm going to need a cite on that. To the best of my knowledge if they have a warrant to search the property and what they are searching for can logically be in an area it doesn't matter if it's locked or not. They can break out a torch if they wish and cut into the safe. If the warrant is for a stolen vehicle, it can't logically be in a 2 cu ft safe so no go. If you had giant monstrous safe with a door big enough to drive the vehicle through... No additional warrant needed.
    Yes, it depends on what the warrant is for but YES, a search warrant allows searches of locked containers if what in being searched for could be hidden inside.
     

    BJHay

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    A simplified perspective:

    Straw purchases and "illegal" trafficking: Already illegal
    Full auto switches: Already illegal to make or import (hello, US Customs?)
    Robbery and theft of guns: Already illegal
    Using a gun in the commission of a crime: Already Illegal

    It sounds like we should leave responsible gun owners alone and enforce the laws we already have.
     
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