Loophole, Schmoophole....where do bad guys get guns?

The "gun show loophole" is largely a myth, at least as far as applying to gun shows. As a study of state prison inmates suggest, crooks don't go to gun shows to acquire their firearms. Even Harris and Kleibold didn't buy at a gun show--they got a friend to do a gun show straw purchase for them as they were underage. They bought a second firearm from a buddy who knew they were prohibited persons (underage) but sold it anyway. These two gun providers were champions of civic responsibility, eh?

This doesn't mean we don't have a problem with ne'er-do-wells acquiring firearms illicitly. The real question regarding the erroneously-named "gun show loophole" is whether the entire secondary market of sales between individuals leads to gun violence, and whether significant numbers of crimes are committed because folks bought guns without a background check. That is a good question.

As a recent study, yet to be released (read, take this with a grain of salt) indicates, that old "40% of guns are transferred without a background check" number might have merit. Undoubtedly most of these unreviewed sales are to legitimate people, but to decide if the number of bad actors is enough of a problem to spend policy and resources on it, we need numbers; some examples of horror stories are here. This also means we need to address how prohibited people really get guns and how to deter them or their sources from engaging in unlawful transfers. As far as where crooks get guns, in the table below are some numbers from a published source.

But mandating universal background checks (UBCs) is begging the question on how to track and enforce such a requirement.  Tracking and enforcing UBCs for gun transfers in the private market would, in many states, be based on an honor system (or fear of BATF sting operations) since there is no universal registration and tracking of guns to owners, no idea of who owns what in many states (and likely will never be universal registration as long as the anti-gun folks cannot be trusted to avoid Aussie solutions) and as we know, there is no honor among thieves.

Source for Table: Office of Justice Programs Bureau of JusticeStatistics, Firearm Violence, 1993-2011, Michael Planty, Ph.D., and Jennifer L. Truman, Ph.D., BJS Statisticians

Table 14 Source of firearms possessed by state prison inmates at time of offense, 1997 and 2004	Percent of state prison inmates 1997	Percent of state prison inmates 2004
Source of firearm	1997	2004
Total	100%	100%
Purchased or traded from	14%	11.3%
Retail Store	8.2%	7.3%
Pawnshop	4.0%	2.6%
Flea Market	1.0%	0.6%
Gun Show	0.8%	0.8%
Family or friend	40.1%	37.4%
Purchased or traded	12.6%	12.2%
Rented or borrowed	18.9%	14.1%
Other	8.5%	11.1%
Street or illegal source	37.3%	40.0%
Theft or burglary	9.1%	7.5%
Drug deal/off street	20.3%	25.2%
Fence/black market	8.0%	7.4%
Other	8.7%	11.2%

Note from original source: Includes only inmates with a current conviction. Estimates may differ from previously published BJS reports. To account for differences in the 1997 and 2004 inmate survey questionnaires, the analytical methodology used in 1997 was revised to ensure comparability with the 2004 survey.  Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 1997 and 2004.

Reference: Office of Justice Programs Bureau of JusticeStatistics, Firearm Violence, 1993-2011, Michael Planty, Ph.D., and Jennifer L. Truman, Ph.D., BJS Statisticians