Asking, and answering, "Where did the gun come from?" can prevent shootings

We ask Where did the gun come from? after every shooting to identify the people who supply guns to criminals. If we can cut off the flow of crime guns at the source, we can save lives.

Welcome to our discussion on how we can stop violence caused with illegal guns. What’s an illegal gun? It’s a gun in the hands of a criminal or youth who is prohibited by law from having one. Did you know most gun crimes are committed by people under the age of 25 who acquired their guns illegally? 5 out of 6 guns recovered in crime were obtained through illegal means. (Braga & Pierce, 2005) If we cut off the supply of guns to criminals and youth, we can save lives.

Let me say right off the bat—we’re NOT trying to take guns away from lawful citizens. In fact, we’d like to clone gun owners who store and maintain guns safely. We’re not targeting YOUR gun, we’re targeting CRIME guns. We want to break down the system of illegal trafficking that provides guns to criminals. We hope you’ll weigh in with your thoughts about how we can keep guns out of the hands of kids and criminals. So many lives depend on us doing this better.

Nancy

Comments

[Lucky]

What is the alleged 15 year-old shooter doing with a gun in the first place?

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_region/20070813_Alleged_shooter_gives_up_to_police.html

[Ken]

OK, I'll bite. Someone once observed that if guns were completely outlawed in the US, all that criminals would need to do would be hide guns in batches of drugs to smuggle them in. The idea of keeping criminals from obtaining guns or other equally lethal weapons is a complete fool's errand. The way to keep ourselves and our families safe is to deter youth from adopting lives of crime, and to take those who choose such a life off the streets for a long time. The majority of the articles in the Globe and other media describe persons arrested for using a gun in crimes of violence as being in their late teens through late 20's with numerous arrests and convictions for serious crimes, and frequently as being out on bail or parole at the time of the crime. Some are out on bail after having been arrested for failing to appear the last time they were let out on bail. A cynic might say that the laws of supply and demand apply and that a community gets as much crime as it's willing to tolerate.

[bruce]

Can there be links from this blog to other sites interested in an end to gun violence, most specifically the Brady Campaign, http://www.bradycenter.org. Anyone interested in how the gun lobby and its allies in Washington protect corrupt gun dealers should take a peek at http://www.bradycenter.org/xshare/pdf/reports/giw.pdf Most of all, Congress should end the gun industry's immunity from product safety regulation/litigation. Irresponsible dealers who allow weapons to fall into the hands of criminals should be held accountable.

[Guav]

A fair enough question. But the problem is that there really is no way to "cut off" the source of something for which there is an illicit demand.

One has only to look at the absolute failure of the War On Drugs' ability to curtail the availability of drugs or the price that they cost.

[Bob S.]

Please tell me how you tell the difference between a "crime" gun and a "legal" gun?

Is the box marked differently? Does the gun magically appear in the hands of the criminal moments before the act?

Let's face it, criminals are not abiding by the existing laws. How will more laws change that? Look at England as an example of how more laws are not affecting the rate of violence. Since the draconian laws were implemented, gun violence has actually increased.

Instead of focusing on the inanimate object, let's focus on the criminals using them. What type of criminals are using guns, first time non-violent offenders or repeat offenders?

Let's focus on the culture that glorifies the use of violence to deal with issues. A great example of culture change is MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). This organization made driving while intoxicated culturally unacceptable, the laws and the people changed to reflect that view.

[David]

You say you are not after my gun, just the source of crime guns. So, if you determine my gun can be stolen and therfore become a crime gun do you want it as well?

If you want to restrict my actions, in my house, with my family and my gun, by telling me where and how I can store it, you take away my ability to protect that gun from falling into criminal hands. Therefore I suggest you are the source of the crime guns and should be prohibited.

Would it not be more difficult to remove the loaded firearm from my hands than to demand I provide the keys to the safe and trigger lock while a criminal holds a gun to my family?

[Bob S.]

Okay, I'll bite. Please tell me, with specifics and in detail, how you are going to target "crime guns" with impacting on my right to keep and bear arms.

Simple request, just provide the exact way you are going to keep guns out of the hands of criminals without increasing my cost (if I can't afford it, I can't keep a firearm) or my freedom to bear ( again cost, licensing, training makes having a gun on me more expensive).

[Bonnie]

If you want to get to the source of the illegal gun trade, you will need to go to the source of illegal drug trafficking. That means the port cities where drugs pass through easily. Try San Diego and Miami, for example. It seems that the country is more concerned about illegal aliens and terrorists (rightly so to some) than illegal drugs and guns that seem to go hand in hand.
In addition, Michael Moore (who I both like and dislike) produced a wonderful service in his movie "Bowling for Columbine" by having ammunition not sold at K-Mart. It was too readily available to anyone in stores of such magnitude. Ammunition should only be sold where honorable gun dealers do the proper background checks of those who purchase guns from them.
This is one woman's opinion: All drugs should be legalized in this country. It seems to me that since illegal guns and drugs are like conjoined twins, wouldn't it at the very least cut down on illegal gun trafficking?
I have been burglarized 7 times in my life. I kept a baseball bat near my bed. Fortunately, I was at work when those burglaries occurred and never had to use it. I installed a burglar alarm system after the 7th and obviously wish that I had done it before. For those fearful that an armed robber will enter their home, invest in an alarm system so that you, at the very least, have the time to get your gun out of the "safe" to protect your family.

[Chuck]

Two little problems with the "alarm" scenario. I live in the country, and a 911 call or an auto-dial to an alarm company gives the criminal about 20-25 minutes before the police respond. Asking the criminal to play a few rounds of pool while we wait for help doesn't seem to work here too well. A horrible gun, like the 9MM next to my bed at night is much quicker to access when needed. We can call 911 later to pick up the remains.
The second, is the 2A (second ammendment) which was written shortly and succintly to have the citizens of our great country armed in the event of the over-reaching of the government. We are guaranteed the right to self protection whether from criminals or elected criminals. Thanx for the alarm advice, hope it works well for you, but I'll keep my friends S&W with me.

[MM]

First off, putting criminals in jail and keeping them there would probably stem half the gun violence in this country. But we don't do that, we are country with liberal laws that don't mean anything because they aren't enforced. We tend to write laws just to make it look like we are doing something about a problem, when in fact there are probably the same laws already on the books that we don't enforce.

Outlawing or stopping guns will have nothing to do with stopping gun violence, it will only give criminals the upper hand on the law abiding citizenry. Criminals don't care about laws and will not follow laws, they will get the guns, just like they get the drugs...illegaly. Lets face it the police are there usually to clean up after violence has occured, when violence is occuring, you and only you that can protect your family. Any one that thinks different only need to be assaulted/or have their home broken into once to figure that out. Usually it's too late....

I'm all for your push to stem the illegal gun trade it's a valid argument....but say we catch these people, are we actually going to put them in jail and throw away the key....most likely they'll be on parole in a year or two doing the same thing.