I’m pretty sure No. 1 is a flat out lie. Most criminals buy stolen guns from either the criminal who stole it or another criminal who bought it from the criminal who stole it. Oh, and there’s no background check.
The guy who killed firemen in NY state on Christmas morning used a straw buyer.
Personally I would have never let him out of prison after he beat his grandmother to death with a hammer but I’m funny that way.
“I’m pretty sure No. 1 is a flat out lie. Most criminals buy stolen guns from either the criminal who stole it or another criminal who bought it from the criminal who stole it. Oh, and there’s no background check.”
I suspect, but have not checked (there was not a link to the full study), that the BATFE figures include all guns traced. Guns traced are not crime guns, in the way that most people would think of it. There is also an enormous difference in guns included as crime guns for simple possession by a person without any criminal record.
Most people would not count those guns as “crime guns” either.
If we only looked at guns used in violent crimes, I think we would obtain significantly different figures.