How do criminals get guns? The answer seems incredibly obvious: illegally. Unfortunately, that generic answer doesn’t fully capture how criminals acquire firearms, so we began researching it.
Our latest report analyzes exactly where and how criminals get guns. Here are a few report highlights:
- Only one in ten inmates who were armed during their crime obtained their firearms from a retail source, per a BJS report published in 2019.
- In 2023, the median time between a firearm purchase and a criminal investigation was 2.9 years.
- A 2024 UC Davis study found that stolen guns are nearly nine times more likely to be used in crimes than dealer-sold firearms that were not reported stolen.
From where they obtained firearms to how they used them, this report has answers. We hope you’ll read and share it at this link.
