Justice Department Study Shows 79 Percent of Criminals Obtained Firearms From Illegal Sources

Ninety-five percent of US police commanders and sheriffs believe most criminals obtain their firearms from illegal sources, according to a survey released by the National Association of Chiefs of Police. Coincidentally, data released by the US Department of Justice appears to confirm this claim by our nation's police executives. The DOJ study refutes the conventional wisdom that guns used in criminal acts are purchased at retail stores or gun shows. About 18 percent of state prisoners and 15 percent of federal prisoners reported that they were armed when they committed the offense for which they were imprisoned, according to the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.  In the interviews, an estimated 9 percent of state prisoners and 2 percent of federal prisoners reported that they fired their weapon during the commission of the crime. The data were obtained from personal interviews with a nationally representative sample of more than 18,000 state and federal prisoners, the largest survey of prison inmates sponsored by the federal government. [more]