imported post
From "Gun Facts" ... http://www.gunfacts.info
Crap loads of stats/info with sources to back it up.....
Myth: Gun shows are supermarkets for criminals
Fact: The FBI concluded in one study that no firearms used to kill cops “In contrast to media
myth, none of the firearms in the study was obtained from gun shows.”
264
Fact: Only 0.7% of convicts bought their firearms at gun shows. 39.2% obtained them from
illegal street dealers.
265
Fact: Less than 1% of “crime guns” were obtained at gun shows
266. This is an improvement
from an earlier study that found 1.7% - 2% of guns used in criminal offenses were purchased at
gun shows.
267
Fact: Only 5% of metropolitan police departments believe that gun shows are a problem.
268
Fact: Only 3.5% of youthful offenders reported that they obtained their last handgun at a gun
show.
269
Fact: 93% of guns used in crimes are obtained illegally (i.e., not at gun stores or gun shows).
270
Fact: At most 14% of all firearms traced in investigations were purchased at a gun show.
271 But
this includes just traced weapons, which overstates the acquisition rate.
Fact: Gun dealers are federally licensed, and must follow the rules for sales regardless of
whether they are dealing from a storefront, or a gun show.
272
Myth: 25-50% of the vendors at most gun shows are“unlicensed dealers”
Fact: There is no such thing as an “unlicensed dealer”, except for people that buy and sell
antique – known as curio – weapons.
Fact: This 25-50% figure can only be achieved if you include dealers not selling guns at these
shows. These non-gun dealers include knife makers, ammunition dealers, accessories dealers,
military artifact traders, clothing vendors, bumper sticker sellers, and hobbyists. In short, 50% of
the vendors at shows are not selling firearms at all!
Myth: Prison isn't the answer to crime control
Fact: From 1960-1980, per capita imprisonment for violent crimes fell from 738 to 227. In the
same period, violent crime rates nationwide tripled.
Fact: Why does crime rise when criminals are released from prison early? Because they are
highly likely to commit more crimes. 62.5% were re-arrested for new felonies or serious
misdemeanors within three years. Those early released felons killed another 2,282 people.
273
Fact: 45% of state prisoners were, at the time they committed their offense, under conditional
supervision in the community--either on probation or on parole.
274 Why isn’t the government
doing its job?
Fact: Los Angeles county saw repeat offender and re-arrest 15,775 Rearrested convicts
rates soar after closing jails and releasing prisoners early. In 1,443 Assault charges
275
less than three years, early release of prisoners in LA resulted 518 Robbery charges
in:
276 215 Sex offense charges
16 Murder charges
Fact: In 1991, 13,200 homicides were committed by felons
on parole or probation. For comparison sake, this is about ½ of the 1999 annual gun death totals
(keep in mind that gun deaths fell from 1991 to 1999).
Fact: The average annual social damage prevented by incarcerating a newly admitted New
Jersey violent criminal is $1.6 million. This is a far higher cost than the annual $25,000 expense
of imprisoning a violent criminal.
264
U.S. Department of Justice, "Violent Encounters: A Study of Felonious Assaults on Our Nation's La
Enforcement Officers", August 2006
265
Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Firearm Use by Offenders”, November 2001
266
Ibid
267
National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. According to an NIJ study
released in December 1997 "Homicide in Eight U.S. Cities"
268
Center to Prevent Handgun Violence survey of 37 police departments in large cities, reported in a CPHV report
titled “On the Front Line: Making Gun Interdiction Work”, February 1998
269
Timothy S. Bynum, Todd G. Beitzel, Tracy A. O’Connell & Sean P. Varano, “Patterns in Gun Acquisition and
Use by Youthful Offenders in Michigan”, 1999
270
BATF, 1999
271
BATF, June 2000, covers only July 1996 through December 1998
272
BATF, 2000
273
Department of Justice Recidivism, 1999
274
US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1991
275
Keep in mind these are just charges. Each arrested convict may have committed multiple crimes.
276
" Releasing Inmates Early Has a Costly Human Toll", Los Angeles Times, May 14, 2006
