[taxyz]

Depends on which area of the country that you are in but along the southern border a lot of gangs bring in guns.

Then there is the fact that our incompetent government does things like Operation Fast and Furious (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_gunwalking_scandal) and, no, the ATF using private businesses to funnel guns into the hands of people who would not otherwise be able to acquire them is not the same as firearms that were once legal.

[kevviiinn]

Bring in guns? From where

[taxyz]

When you see literal shoot outs in the streets between the Sinaloa cartel and the Mexican armed forces, you don't honestly think the cartel members drove to AZ and walked into a Cabela's, do you?

Just like drugs, humans, etc, guns are also trafficked. The vast majority of gun homicides are done with handguns and largely gang related. Not all of those guns weren't at one point legal guns in the US - where the gang member either stole them from a law abiding citizen or walked into a gun store. All handguns in the US require background checks and you have to be 21 years old to buy.

[kevviiinn]

The way the comment was phrased makes it sound like they're bringing in the guns from outside the country.

[taxyz]

I think the problem is multi-faceted: - some guns were legally acquired in the US then stolen - the government has done gun running operations from the US into Mexico and then some of the guns have ended up being used in crimes back in the US - some gun running does acquire guns outside of the US and brings them in

The thing I am objecting to is the notion that if an illegally used gun was used in a crime it must have once been a legally possessed gun, and (the implicit policy prescription) that the way to curb illegal gun possession is by limiting legal gun possession. While that last part probably tracks, because of my ideological beliefs, I'd rather we exhaust all other options before limiting legal gun ownership. And even then, again because ideology/convictions, curbing legal gun ownership is probably not a thought I'd entertain at the ballot box.

[tcmart14]

Or actually enforcing laws on the book to prevent legal guns to becoming illegal guns. Saw this a lot growing up in the south. Jimbo is gonna get charged with some crime that will take away his ability to own a gun, so Jimbo sells/transfers the ownership of the gun to his brother/best friend bob. Bob now legally owns that/those guns, but those guns never actually end up in Bob's ownership. 5 years later, Jimbo still has the guns in his closet.

[kevviiinn]

Nearly all guns used for crime in the US were once legally owned

https://archive.md/qymWJ